Safaia Inoue
by xlilslayerx
Summary: "Inoue, this is-" "An abandoned baby. I couldn't just leave her in the box in the rain, and I think she might be ill, I didn't know who else to turn to." The baby kept it's head on Orihime's breast as it slept silently. He stared at both, astonished.
1. Cries in the night

**So this is Safaia Inoue. Hi, I'm xlilslayerx! ^_^ I hope this story turns out good. Please, Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER; I DO NOT OWN BLEACH! (This will be my only disclaimer for the story.)**

**WARNING!; If you have not read my other story, 'The fire of 1000 cherry blossoms', there is a good chance that there will be things you do not understand. I don't want to explain everything, so please, just to understand, read that one.**

I walked slowly down the path. The rain hit harshly down my face and trickled down my arms. The park was deserted. Night sky darkness loomed over everything as I pulled my jacket on. I didn't care if it was late, I didn't care if I caught a cold, I needed to think straight. _'Why can't I control my emotions? Why can't I get over you, Kurosaki-kun? It's obvious you love Kuchiki-san, and I'm happy you are happy, so why do I feel so alone?' _At least the rain camoflaged my tears as the streamed lightly down. I cuddled my arms to my chest. Thunder roared in the night, making me jump. Sighing deeply, I stood under an old oak tree. As the rain poured heavier, my thoughts where strong. _'Kurosaki-kun, I-huh?' _My thoughts were cut short. At the other side of the tree,a small cry outstood the thunderous clouds. _'Tree's don't cry...' _I peered round to locate the source. A box.  
>"Wahh!" It screamed. I ran over to it and opened it up. What I layed eyes on, I knew would change my life forever. A beautiful sight of the darkest blue eyes I had ever seen. They were red from her tears, but stopped crying once she saw me. I picked up the small baby and wrapped it inside my jacket.<br>"Hello?" I called as I looked around, "I see, abandoned. Well, don't worry, I'll take care of you." She curled up to me and fell asleep. Even though the wind was strong, and the rain broken through the box, the little child was burning. _'Maybe we should have you checked...'_

_'That fricken' doorbell! Who the HELL is knocking at 3-fucking-am?' _After giving a disapproving sigh, Ichigo rolled out of bed and made his way down the stairs. He slammed the door handle down and jerked it open.  
>"What do you want? Don't you realise it's 3 in... the... Inoue!" His blurred vision finally focused as he looked at the terrified face.<br>"I'm sorry for disturbing you, Kurosaki-kun." She bowed, "I need your help."  
>"Come in." She stepped inside the warmth of his house. He led her to the living room.<br>"Inoue, what are you doing here so early in the morning? You're soaked to the bone!" He used the calmest tone he could master so he didn't get her scared or worried. _'I have to stop being so harsh around her.' _Ichigo hated it when he saw the young beauty cry, it was even worse for him when she was afraid of him, it built a knot in his stomach that made him want to fall and apologise. _'Like that time she first saw my hollow mask.' _The memory brought an inward scowl to his face, but he did not show it whilst she was still here.  
>"Sorry, Kurosaki-kun, but I need your help." She begun to unzip her jacket, "I was having a night-time walk when..." Her hands fell inside her jacket and she pulled out the child. Ichigo's eyes bulged,<br>"Inoue, this is-"  
>"An abandoned baby. I couldn't just leave her in the box in the rain, and I think she might be ill, I didn't know who else to turn to." The baby kept it's head on Orihime's breast as it slept silently. He stared at both, astonished. True, the child looked unwell, but why did she bring it to him instead of a hospital? <em>'Now's not the time to ask.'<br>_"Come to the clinic with me."  
>"Arigateo, Kurosaki-kun."<p>

"She's got a slight fever, but she should be fine in a few days." Ichigo concluded. Orihime sighed relieved.  
>"Ucata." She stoked the baby's brown hair and turned to Ichigo, "Arigateo."<br>"Your welcome. But I think she should stay here until she's better, or at least until the rain is gone." The rain still tumbled down, "It's not a good idea for her to go outside, yet. You are welcome to stay here until she is better." Ichigo smiled to the busty woman.  
>"Eh? You don't have to Ichigo-kun, I'd hate to intrude!"<br>"It's okay, Inoue-san. If you were intruding, I wouldn't of said anything." _'Ichigo-kun? When did she start calling me that?'  
><em>"Is it okay with your family?"  
>"My dad and sister's have gone to Tokyo for Karin's championship match, I only stayed behind because of the exams coming up. They won't be back for another week." The baby made a few gurgling noises before opening her lovely blue eyes.<br>"So what are you going to do with her?"  
>"What do you mean?"<br>"Well, are you really ready to take care of a baby? You're only seventeen." Orihime's face dropped into deep thinking before she gave him a heart warming smile.  
>"Yes, I'm going to keep her."<br>"Well, if it gets too much, then let me help you too. I think it might be better if all the burden wasn't on you." Her eyes widened.  
>"Eh?" <em>'Kurosaki-kun will be like a dad! Am I dreaming? If I am, then don't wake me up!'<em>, "Are you sure, Kurosaki-kun?"  
>"Yes, I'm sure. At least that way, it'll be less stressful for you." <em>'I watched mum raise Karin and Yuzu when they were young, I know how stressful it could be, even with two parents, let alone one.' <em>Orihime lent her head gently on the child's.  
>"What are you going to call her?" She lifted her head and placed her hand under her chin, thinking quickly.<br>"Safaia. _**(Sapphire)**_ Since that's the colour of her eyes." Safaia placed a tiny thumb in her mouth and turned to Ichigo. She begun to whine and reach out to him with the other hand.  
>"I think she want's you to hold her." Orihime smiled. Ichigo blushed as she held her out to him. Carefully, he took the precious girl and cradled her to his shoulder. Her thumb stayed in her mouth as she started to play with his hair.<br>"Hey, that hurts!" He half-shouted-half-laughed. Orihime laughed too.  
>"I think she likes your hair.' <em>'As do I.'<em> He gave the child back to Inoue. She struggled slightly before closing her eyes again on her shoulder. Orihime rocked her gently to make her fall asleep.  
>"Will I need to give her any medicine?"<br>"It'll be safer for you to." He went to the kitchen and looked in the cupboard for any baby medicine. They all went back into the living room and sat down.  
>"I'll sort out Karin and Yuzu's room for you, I'm sure they wouldn't mind you staying in there."<br>"N-no, it's fine, Kurosaki-kun, th-the rain's gotten lighter, maybe I should-"  
>"No."<br>"No?"  
>"Don't even think about taking Safaia into any rain, or cold weather, while she's sick. It can make her worse." Inoue pushed her head down in shame.<br>"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun." He nodded then headed up to his sister's room.

"Wahh!" She screamed. _'Six o'clock...' _Inoue dragged herself out of Karin's bed and sat by Safaia in Yuzu's.  
>"What's the matter, sweety?" She picked her up and rocked her, but still she cried, "Maybe you're hungry?" <em>'I don't have any bottles...'<br>_"Inoue, is everything fine?" Ichigo opened the door. His face flustered terribly as his hands instantly covered his eyes, "What are you doing?" Inoue turned her tired head to the door.  
>"She's hungry." She pouted to Ichigo, giving him a confused look, "It's natural for a woman to breast-feed." Ichigo changed another ten shades of red under his hands before shutting the door again. Inoue looked out to the breaking dawn; different shades of auburn, mountbatten and crimson roamed around the morning sun. <em>'I better get some baby items today, perhaps Kurosaki-kun can take care of Safaia for a while? No, it'll be too much of a burden to him, I don't want to just throw her to him. Maybe Tatsuki-san? She's at Karate practice today, she'll be too busy. I can't see Ishida-kun or Sado-kun knowing how to take care of a baby, or Kuchiki-san and Abarai-kun. Hmm...' <em>Safaia cuddled back up to her saviour and fell back to sleep. Orihime stroked her head and pushed herself down on the bed, falling asleep with the baby on her chest.

**Well, what do you think? I'm a daily uploader most of the time, so I might see you tomorrow if you liked it ^_^, Bye!**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	2. Shopping

**Wow, thanks for the reviews and favorites/alarts ^_^ didn't expect ANY for my first chapter :P The story is not in it's major plot yet, I know what I'm going to do but I haven't written any further chapters, so don't kill me if I'm late 0.o Enjoy!**

** Abby; HI! Glad to c you again, hope you like this story too :D**

**Nipsy; Oh, sorry about that, I read somewhere that woman can sometimes produce breast milk when puberty starts, I must of misread it. My stories are never realistic anyway, so I like to twist reality a bit, if you don't mind ^_^ She gets the stuff in this chapter anyway so it was just a one off thing. Thank you for informing me though.**

**Bekas strife; Thanks for the advice but, I don't mean to be rude (last thing I want), but I only put a full gap between paragraphs, not dialogue, like a time change or another person's POV. Also, I use the Japanese to help myself remember certain words, I'm sorry if you think it's informal. Thank you for it though.**

The succulent smell of bacon wisped Inoue from her dreamland and made her follow her nose to the kitchen. Safaia yawned and stretched in her arms as Orihime stood half asleep at the kitchen doorway. Ichigo looked round from the oven.  
>"Oh hiyo, Inoue-san. Did you want some bacon and eggs for breakfast?"<br>"Oh hiyo, Kurosaki-kun, yes please, do you have any tomato sauce?" He quickly opened the fridge door and threw it behind him. Inoue caught it and smiled, "And tuna with ice cream?" Ichigo's shoulders tensed as sweat dropped from the back of his head.  
>"Just when I thought you were going to have a normal breakfast." He whispered.<br>"Sorry, what did you say?" She smiled to him as she pulled a chair out.  
>"No, nothing." He got the requested items and placed the breakfast plates onto the table, "I'm not a great cook, Yuzu is usually the one to do it, so sorry if it's not that good." More sweat dropped as he watched the girl in front of him devour her food. <em>'How does a girl with such a beautiful figure have such a huge appetite?' <em>He shook the thought out and begun his own breakfast.  
>"Kurosaki-kun?" He looked up to the sparkling girl. She pushed her index fingers together and looked to the floor, "Can you do me a favour today? I'm sorry for burdening you so much but-"<br>"It's fine, Inoue, what do you need?" She looked back up to him.  
>"I need to get some baby items, so I was wondering if you could take care of Safaia until I get back. Please? I'm sorry, if you're busy I'll just take her with me, but I don't know if I could trust anyone else-" She closed her mouth and stiffened as she realised what she had just said. Ichigo acted as if he didn't hear the last part.<br>"Okay, I'll take care of her. How long will you be?"  
>"If I get the basic things first, like bottles and nappies, then toys and a crib later, I should only be about two to three hours." She smiled. Ichigo sighed.<br>"Okay, I think I'll manage."

_'Shit! Does Inoue know that the little brat can walk?' _Ichigo ran everywhere around the house, shunpo-ing in every square inch, looking for Safaia. He could hear her playful laughter echo everywhere, but she was just not there. He crouched to his knees and took a deep breath. His head throbbed. A little pat on his head made him look up again, straight into the devil's sapphire eyes.  
>"Got you!" He grabbed her and stood up. Her laugh was pure and beautiful. Even Ichigo's anger dropped to nought, "You evil little thing, stop running off, okay?" She blew some bubbles before patting and pulling Ichigo's hair, "Anyway, weren't you ment to be ill? And what's that smell?"<p>

"Let's see..." Inoue held out the little notepad of items, "Crib, bottle, nappies, pram, baby food, dummy... My, there's so much! Will I have enough?" She went through her purse and counted her money. _'Maybe I should just get what she really needs for now.' _ She sighed and walked into the closest baby furniture store. _'I'm getting so many wierd looks.' _She tried to keep her gaze down, and away from the disgusted adults. She found a store clerk.  
>"Um, excuse me?" The man forced a smile to her.<br>"Welcome, can I help you?"  
>"Yes please, I need all this. Please." She handed him the notebook, he briskly flicked through it and handed it back.<br>"Some of those items are not in this store, but most of them are, shall we start with the cribs?"

She coughed some more and lent back into Ichigo's side. As soon as he mentioned her meaning to be ill, she threw up on him. After that, she begun to cry. Ichigo found the source of the disgusting smell. _'Oh. My. God!' _Luckily he found some items in the clinic for when younger children had to stay. Safaia pulled on his shirt and closed her adorable eyes, drifting off to the fantasy world of a three-year-old's dream. Ichigo couldn't help but smile at the tiny child asleep on him. He gently patted her silky brown hair and lent back into the sofa. _'When are you coming back, Inoue? It's been four hours.' _He was exusted. He is always fighting hollows, training with some of the most bad-ass shinigami in the soul society. He managed to beat half of them too, but a child who runs around the house and plays for three hours straight wore him out to the bone. He begun to feel himself drift off, until the ringing of the doorbell woke him up. He gently removed the sleeping girl. _'How much do baby's sweat?' _He looked at the second top he had worn that day, and it was drenched in baby sweat. He silently groaned and opened the door.  
>"I'm back!" She sweetly smiled in her cheery tone. Ichigo nodded, giving his own smile back and led her in.<br>"Where is it all then?"  
>"All of what?" <em>'Please tell me she didn't forget.'<br>_"Baby items?"  
>"Oh! Of course! They're at my apartment." She walked into the living room and picked the sleeping girl up, leaning her onto her shoulder.<br>"Thank you, Ichigo-kun. For letting me stay, for taking care of her, and for looking after her." She grinned wide, "We'll be going back now." She headed for the door.  
>"Wait, Orihime?" She took her hand off of the door handle and turned to her beloved, "Do-do you need help with assembling the stuff?" <em>'He's so cute when he's flustered... Wait, why is he flustered?' <em>She placed her finger on her chin, _'This could mean more time with Ichigo-kun, but am I taking advantage of his kindness?'  
><em>"You've done enough for me, Kurosaki-kun, but thank you anyway." He put his hand up to his head.  
>"Well, if you have any trouble, just call me, okay?" She nodded vigorously and headed out.<p>

Her head slammed the table as she realised that 'that piece doesn't go there'. Her face was red as she pulled apart another piece of the cot. She took a look at her phone and sighed deeply. _'No, I won't trouble him. I can do this!'_ Safaia laughed playfully as she threw her new blocks around, and explored her new home.  
>"Inoue?" A voice called as a small hand knocked on the door.<br>"The door's open!" The petite girl strided in and peered around.  
>"What's all this?" Rukia questioned. Suddenly, a small grip held onto her shinigami uniform's leg. She lifted it up, bringing the baby along with it. Safaia closed her eyes and laughed, Rukia stared at the brown haired child for a good few seconds, "Who's the father?" Orihime quickly dropped her pieces of furniture and waved her arms in the air.<br>"No, no, Kuchiki-san! I found her, she's-" Rukia watched the over zealous girl over react. She picked up the baby and held her in her hands.  
>"Anyway, Kuchiki-san, what brings you into the human world?" Rukia replaced Safaia on the floor and begun to help Orihime with the cot.<br>"It's to do with the modified souls. We needed to get Kon off of Ichigo in order to test him."  
>"The modified souls? What's happened?" The continued to create the furniture as they conversed.<br>"They are rebelling against their owners. Already they have almost all of the mods in a secret place, and gain control of hollows and even grande menos. We don't know how, we don't actually have any information about it right know. They somehow get a body of their owner, except it is all white, and double their owner's strength."  
>"I see, so that's why there has been a rise in hollows recently?"<br>"Hai." They stayed in silence for a while.  
>"Has chappy rebelled?" Rukia nodded. Safaia walked back over to the woman and sat on Inoue's legs. She curled herself up and begun playing with her beautiful orange locks.<br>"Nii-sama is with us in the world of the living, but he's been acting strange, I better get back to him soon. I'm worried he's ill. I just needed to inform you about this new war." She got up and headed for the door.  
>"Thank you, Kuchiki-san, goodbye."<br>"Bye, Inoue-san."

**Okay, so this is the problem that has happened in both my stories, only because they are linked together (Two different POV's, same storyline.) Hope you liked it, I know it was meaningless until the end, but I'm working on it. -So much easier to write OC stories...- Review for me please!**

**-xlilslayerx- **


	3. Love of one's child

**Okay, next chapter. ^_^ I like writing this story, but it's really hard! Anyway, thank you reviewers and Enjoy!**

**Nypsy; She can not shunpo ^_^ though, it would be funny :P I find it easier to see a teenagers problems with teen mothering, since I am a teenager, but I have no children (thankfully) so I can't write about them as easily. I'M SORRY! I didn't realise I write a three-year-old's dream, she was ment to be two. -.- Not all three year olds can talk though, but I know that's roughly when they start. Oh, and you being a teacher explains the detail criticism, thank you for them :)!**

** Recchinon; I won't stop them for good, but I'll use them less frequently if that's okay :] Thanks for reviewing too.**

**xCrushxChanx17; I do have spaces in my paragraphs! Only one other person mentioned spacing the dialogue if that's what you ment too, so, if that's the case, then tell me please. The certain word thing like your instead of you're was an honest mistake, I'm sorry for that. And also, -rereads your opening- Woah 0.o my range of vocabulary is limited, but I'm trying my best starting now to make it more detail ^_^, thanks for helping me!**

**I only do up to three reveiw answers, but I am very grateful to everyone else too. Since people insisted on gaps between dialogue, I'm trying it :( I still find it confusing though... Extra gaps between paragraphs!**

I rocked her gently in the verdigris cot, silently listening to her hushed breathing through the stary night. Safaia's tiny hand grabbed my finger as her dreams carried her away. My own eyes begun to fall from the sleeping tot to my homely pillow, wishing myself away from a stressful life into the wonders of a fairy tale dream, a dream where life falls as planned, where you stay in love with a prince and raise a child as a family. Carefully, I removed my finger away from the delicate grip and dragged my fatigue body into the warmness of one's bed. Nothing could compare to the softness of a cushioned pillow against an exhausted mind. I turned over and stared into the cresent moon; it was begging me to rest. I listened to it's wise words and drifted into my perfect world.

Safaia's harsh cry teared through my peaceful night, taking me back into reality. The beauty of the moon was replaced with many colours of the morning sun, bringing a welcoming glow into my room, and a luminous shadow to Safaia's wonderful sapphire eyes. I forced myself up and gazed upon my child, she knew exactly when it was six o'clock. Like a human alarm clock, but more sweet. I trudged to her, attentively keeping my steps away from the thrown pieces of other furniture and toys over the floor, to the fawn infant.

"What is it, darling?" I cautiously picked her up, cradling her dearly. Sighing, I went to the kitchen for some baby food. Thankfully, I already built the high chair, a matching verdigris chair with white ribbon caressing around the main soft chair. I sat her in and proceeded with her breakfast. Tears did not stream down her face for long, though she banged on the small tray on the high chair, as well as sucked her thumb, her own special ways of saying that she is hungry. I placed the brown mixture inside the microwave and sat down beside her, holding her hand tenderly and sweetly smiling to the warmth of a child's love. Quickly, or so it seemed, the head throbbing beeping indicated that the food was ready. Safaia let go of my heated hands, inaudibly and obediantly waiting for her morning porridge. Her eyes followed me eagerly around the diminutive kitchen. I tested the mixture on my wrist, waiting for the correct temperature, before handing it over to my vehement little girl. I thought she was reaching her petite arms towards her breakfast, but instead re-grabbed my hand.

"M-ma-ma." She smiled with sparkling eyes. I lent to her, my own eyes were close to tears as I realised she had spoke her first word, "Ma-ma, t-tan-tank ku, mama." I cooed and carefully pinched her cheak, making Safaia giggle adorably.

"You're welcome." I whispered.

_'Finished!' _I peered over the boucy chair and pram, wiping my forehead at my hard work. Swiftly I snatched my notebook, ticking over the last of my needed items. Safaia ran into the room in her new frilled sunshine dress. Tiny white socks pulled up just past her ankles as the hem of the pastel golden dress fell to her knees. A little floppy bunny with humungous ears that Rukia quickly bought for her before she left, was carried in her subtle arms. She skipped to me and hugged me tight. My own delicate arms felt too strong to wrap around this angel, but did anyway. I placed her in the bistre pram and strapped her in, wheeling her around the room. Her quick hiccup laughter and clapping hands were, by far, enough to cheer anyone out the blue, and brong the happiest and most caring smile to anyone's saddened face. I laughed along with her. Our playtimes brought us alot closer, as if we had been a family forever. However, I failed to notice the 'dad' to our little family standing at an open front door.

"Looks like you're having fun." Ichigo entered.

"Hello, Kurosaki-kun!" I chimed as I slowed down to a halt. Safaia peered around her pram and begun to whine and struggle, wanting to get out and tackle her strawberry. As soon as I unbuckled the belt, she instently ended up by Ichigo's feet, letting him swoop down and pick the carefree girl from the messy floor, onto his broad muscular shoulders.

"How are you, Inoue-san? Is everything alright here?" I nodded, keeping my wide smile plastered on my face.

"I'm fine, thank you, and so is everything here, excuse the mess." I lead him inside and begun to pick her toys up, "Make yourself at home!" He sat down on the sofa and pulled Safaia off of him. She pouted but then dashed into another room, bringing her new bunny out with her.

"Very lively, isn't she?" Ichigo called from his seat.

"Yes, she is." I sat next to him, "But there is something that has been bovering me."

"What's that?"

"Yesterday, Rukia came to see me, I didn't think about it at first, but now looking back, she could see her. Safaia grabbed Rukia's leg, even though she wasn't in her gigai."

"She can see spirits, what are you worried about?"

"I'm worried that she might also have spitial pressure that hasn't been awoken yet, but maybe hollows can sence it, they might come after her!" Ichigo nodded his head at the understandment.

"I see, unlike everyone else we know, Safaia can't protect herself. Well I guess we'll just have to protect her." He smiled to the glowing angel playing with her bunny.

"And also, what if the parents didn't mean to abandon her? Like, if someone kidnapped her, but then just left her in the park. I don't know if I could handle giving her away again, she's already calling me 'mama'." I suddered at the thought of handing her over to a smoking, sickly woman with no graditude. _'I'll fight to keep her if that ever happened.' _

"Well, wait until there is a 'missing person' posted on the tv or radio. If the parents cared enough for her, then they'll soon ask the press to help find her." It definatly wasn't the right thing to do, but it did mean I could keep her if nothing turns up. I nodded to him and walked up to Safaia, sitting down by her and followed by Ichigo.

"What will you do when the holidays are over? We'll be starting our next year in a few weeks, maybe you should think about sending her to school."

"Already? I mean, we've only just found her, she still needs to get used to her surroundings, and used to us, and, and..."

"Inoue?"

"Yes."

"I don't live here, remember? She'll need to get used to you, since you're her adoptive mother, but I'm only here to help, I'm not a dad." That last part broke my heart, didn't Ichigo want to take care of her? I didn't get to ask. Suddenly, Safaia ran over to me, worried, and gripped my top tightly.

"What's wrong?" The unmistakable pressure of a hollow hit us like a ton of bricks.

"It's close by," Ichigo stood, getting out his badge, "Wait here, I'll make sure you both are safe." _'He also says things like we are together though, maybe he does want to take care of her?'_

"Kurosaki-kun."

"I'll be right back, I promise!" He left his body behind and fled out the window, leaving me staring in a blue abyss of a sky. Safaia let go of me and wadded to Ichigo's body, hitting and poking it like a rag doll, and laughing as she did.

"Da-ddy!"

The hollow was strong, but still too weak to put up a match. It's ugly white mask disintergrated before Ichigo's beautiful brown orbs, giving him the sign of relief and relaxation. _'As Orihime said, they might be heading for Safaia.' _He looked over to the direction of the apartment, he could see her fabulous physic through the window, as well as her caring smile and great doe grey eyes. She spun happily with Safaia in her arms, showing her motherly nature as she cared for the child. But Ichigo knew by the way the hollow was heading, that it was after either her, or the tiny tot. _'I will protect you, Orihime, I made that promise to you, that includes protecting those you love, and your feelings and emotions. I will protect Safaia for you, I'll take care of you both.'_

**Aww, she speaks! =} I think I might of made Ichigo a bit OOC, please warn me if I have! 0.0 Thanks for reading, please review!**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	4. Strength, love and promises

**I'M SORRY! I know I haven't uploaded in TWO WHOLE DAYS! -_- I've failed you. Anyway, to make it worse, I only have a short chapter :( It's just really hard to link two stories. I know what I'm doing, it's just building it up since the problem that begins in this story, is near the end of my other one. Anyway, please give me some ideas that can help build up, maybe a short, time-filling problem or something... I feel bad for asking but I really need help... unless you want to start waiting for a week or so? Anyway, please Enjoy, thank you to everyone who reviewed, and it's good to see old friends ^_^ xXmegachompXx and Crystal Amethyst. Enjoy!**

"So it's true?"

"Yes."

"That might be the reason her real parents left her in the first place then."

"It could be." I stared into my tea as I knelt by the low table in my living room. Ichigo stared at me as he gave the news. His orange locks were more of a mess than usual because of his rise in hollow hunting. Bags carefully highlighted his dulled orbs and his muscled lacked sleep terribly. _'Because I'm busy with Safaia, I can not help with the hollow fighting as much.' _It made my blood boil to see him in such a state I could of prevented, if only... if only..._'If only I was stronger.' _I couldn't stand it any longer, it had been a week since Rukia told us about the mods. Without them, it was harder for the shinigami to enter the real world, as well as them having attacks there too. I gripped my cup harder, digging my nails into the red porcilian; the green tea shook through my rage. I picked it up slowly, wanting to have some, but slammed it back on the table, causing a commosion for Ichigo.

"Let me train with you!" I straightened up and lent to Ichigo, pushing my face into his personal space. His sweat dropped as I pushed myself back abit, "If I become stronger, the burden won't be placed on you. I could protect myself and Safaia easier, taking away some of your stress." I mentally slapped myself and sat back onto my knees, "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me." Ichigo also straightened himself.

"No, it's fine. Maybe, it's for the best." I smiled as he agreed to take me to Urahara's underground training area. My gaze turned to the playful tot on the sofa. Her tiny smile heated my insides like a pleasent embrace. My own eyes lit up as I watched her heavenly ones delicately brushed around her toys. Her wonderfully bright brown hair wisped gently as she shook her head playfully. As she stretched her little arms into the sky, her little pale belly showed the softness of the little child's skin. Never could such a beautiful child be known for the reason of my own, and Ichigo's stress. She was so well behaved, a piece from heaven, but the cursed cause of hollows constently breaking down our morale. _'I will keep you safe from hollows, even if it costs my own life.' _My heart pumped barbarlously against my chest, making my breath fall in line with it.

"When do you want to begin?" Ichigo asked.

"Tommorow."

Urahara agreed too quickly to allow me and Ichigo to use his training grounds, whilst he took care of Safaia.

"Are you sure it's a good idea for Urahara-san to take care of her?" Ichigo questioned causiously. I nodded reassuringly, "Okay, well, come on." He led me to the ladder and shunpo-ed down, leaving me helplessly at the top of a, what seemed like, 100-foot drop. I reached out for the black steps, vigilantly letting myself down, before speeding along. Once I was in the prodigious place, my body begun to tingle with excitment, and anxiousness. Ichigo stood patiantly in the center, awaiting my arrival. I trudged over, ready to begin.

"To start off, I want to know how well your Shun Shun rikka is, and how strong they are." He removed zangetsu from his back, bringing himself in a fighting stance, "Let's see what you've got." I pushed myself into a fighting stance and focused my energy to my 'opponent'.

"Koten Zanshun!" I shouted, sending Tsubaki instanty bolt across the cloudless artificial sky, and towards a readied Ichigo. Swiftly, He placed his sturdy hand in the orange beamed path, blocking the elfin fairy in his tracks. Ichigo carfully picked him up and placed him back into my own tiny hands.

"You're attacks are lacklustre, and half-hearted. Try convincing yourself why you are doing this; for your own, and the people you love's protection." He glided back to his spot a few meters away from me, leaving his words loom behind. I shut my eyes and meditated carefully. Why am I trying to become stronger, who do I want to protect? My breathing relaxed, and tensing stopped completely, I knew excatly who I was doing this for, I knew excatly who I wanted to protect. I tried again.

"Tsubaki!" His light flew quickly into Ichigo's arm, shocking both of us.

"Ah! I'm sorry, Ichigo-kun! I didn't even realise-"

"I'm fine, Inoue-san, it's just training. Anyway, do you see the difference now?" I could see it completely. Tsubaki soared instantaneously, ramming Ichigo with such might that even I had never seen before. I was still stunned that I had hurt Ichigo so quickly, so easily, was this really what I was capable of? The laceration to him was very labyrinthine, almost horrific. I watched him bandage himself with such lucidity, and poundered my own thoughts with as many questions that was caused my the recent reaction.

"I know that wasn't your full power, though." Ichigo pulled on the material with his teeth, securing it in place, "If it was, my arm wouldn't still be attached to my body." He turned his gaze to me, letting go off the white fabric and smiled. I smiled to him as well, unsure as to why I was. Quickly, he shunpo-ed behind me, swinging zangetsu. My mind was still focused, and occupied with everything I had been told. My trio of girls sped behind me, swishing my hair as they formed the defencive triangle. I spun around as Ichigo was stopped and pushed them away, forcing my foot into Ichigo's face. I really didn't like attacking Ichigo, and hurting him, but still, my newly found strength thrilled me to a new bliss of satifactory. _'Bringing Safaia to my life has awoken forgotten strength, bringing her also brought Ichigo closer to me.' _I ran into another attack, watching Ichigo smirk at my new inspiration. _'Safaia is who I will protect.' _I swerved his swing and pushed Tsubaki through another of his muscular limbs. _'My friends, I will protect.' _Ichigo slashed my body, testing the speed of my Souten Kishun. _'And I'll protect Ichigo in return of protect me.'_

**Like I said short :( But, this is actually quite important. This is to show their relationship growing, as well as Orihime's will to fight. (I don't like her being such a D.I.D) Anyway, please review, I'm not sure when the next chapter will be though, I'm sorry.**


	5. A new face

**Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while, we are currently redecorating my house so I've been busy. ^_^ Thanks to the reviewers and, I'm sorry this is short chapter but, Enjoy!**

"Ah! I'm so tired!" I slumped down onto the ground, taking a huge gulp of my iced water. Ichigo sat down next to me, rubbing his torn shoulders and bandaged arms.

"You are certainly getting stronger." I quickly set out my healing shield over both of us. After these few days, I had instantly learnt how to heal myself, or more than one person at a time, also my speed had increased indeffinatly. My whole world had changed for the better, my whole life had become stronger. How could such a change of having a daughter drastically change everything about me? The orange shade of light removed from us, restoring our wounds and once again becoming the presious items of my columbia blue flower hair pins. I got up and headed back to the towering charcoal ladder, dreading the next workout my already enervated legs would endure.

My body relaxed against the park bench as the rays of the sublime sun beated against my skin, putting me into a carefree bliss of relaxation. No worries pounded my head. My task to help Ichigo, making sure that the burden didn't fall upon him so much, was being held up high. In return, he kept his promise and looked after Safaia every now and again. I shut my eyes lazily and stretched my weary arms along the wooden boards by my head. Training with Ichigo may of been extremely exhausting, and drained almost every part of my energy to nought, but it was also so exhilarating, by finding my new strength, I no longer felt so powerless, underneath everyone, or a burden to their own matters; I felt useful. A deep shadow casted over my eyes, making my body shiver to the concealed sun that once slept along my limbs. My eyes darted open as I heard the terrible screams of children, the park filled with them running to parents, away from the crater that striked the rusty swings, and forced away the ground beneath them. Their small legs were not fast enough to run from the monster before my eyes. A protracted body of many hollows formed before me, overpowering spirital pressure consumed everything. It's horrible white mask casted it's gaze towards me, opening it's mouth to form the red beam I had once became a custom to. I fastly flipped away from the bench, edging away from the shattering blast. I swerved away, drastically looking for the fighters. None of the hollow fighters had showed up: Ishida, Sado, the shinigami, not even Ichigo. None of the karakura team, or Urahara and Yoruichi. _'Looks like I have no choice.' _I sent Tsubaki flying to the mask, hoping with all my heart that I could stop the menos before it endulged anyone, I maybe able to stop hollows, but I couldn't purify, or bring souls to safty, that was a shinigami's job. Tsubaki threw himself into the white crevasse, only to plunge to my hands once again. Still I continued to try. My defence grew to a huge field, covering the menos and refusing to back down, making it lock into the same area it had fallen. Determination wasn't enough. It broke through, throwing me backwards into the slides. Another cero was forced, heading to me. I tried to throw myself out of the way, but the blast was too engulfing, too close, I couldn't escape it's rath. I moved my arms so they crossed over my face, my only source of defence left, but the blast never reached me. I felt the wind of the blast slice past my ears, beside me were the two halves, infront of me stood a woman. Her long golden hair reached down to her hip, flicking to the sides gracefully. It moved visously around, reveiling a captains jacket underneath. She held her zanpactou with ease to the cero, the culprit to it's parting. She sung with such beauty as she jumped into the air, slicing down the menos, and destroying it completely. She turned to me, continuing to sing. All I remembered was seen a pair of elegant hazel eyes before my world became black.

"Excuse me? Hello? Are you alright?" My eyesight remained fuzzy as they swiftly opened. As soon as they focused, the pair of striking hazel eyes remained above my own grey eyes. I sat up carefully, retaking in my surroundings. No shadow loomed over my tired body, the black chasm of the grande menos had left, leaving behide the warmness of the midday summer sun.

"Are you okay?" The woman addressed to me. She held her hand out to me, letting me grab it in order to get up from my fallen place on the ground, "Sorry about that, I shouldn't really look at people when singing." She laughed. To me it made no sence, I had no idea what sort of power she held inside her voice, but, whatever it was, she had made me collapse for nothing.

"Um, may I ask who you are?" I questioned polietly, still trying to work out the puzzle of the last few events that had passed.

"Oh, yes, my name is Ukitake April, the newest 3rd squad captain. And you are Inoue Orihime, correct?" _'The newest 3rd squad captain?' _Her English accent was certainly unmissable, but her normal voice was just as powerfully beautiful as her singing voice. Her blonde frindge sat on both sides of her face, the right side longer than the left. Her smile was a wonderful complection to her flawless face. She was taller than me, by only about a few inches, and her physic was much more than my own. She was all in all, outstanding.

"Yes, I am Orihime, Ukitake taicho."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, please don't refere me as a captain though."

"Oh, okay. How do you know who I am?"

"Rukia-chan and Rangi-kun talk about you quite alot, you are portrayed as one of the nicest girls I've ever heard of." I couldn't help but blush at her complex compliments, "Oh, by the way," She pointed to behind me, "Maybe we should move, you look like you're talking to yourself." The little kids gave me strange glances as I turned around, my blush reaching to the next level, "Let's go to my house."

April handed the tea over as I sat at her pine table. It was quite uncomfortable to be in a house of a woman I had only just met. She seemed to get my uneasyness and sat opposite me, holding a more serious face to the smile that she once held earlier.

"It's alright, Orihime-san, I don't bite." Still I shifted around, but the gaze of her eyes told me everything was going to be fine, "You almost got killed today, I know you are training with Ichigo, and,"

"You know Kurosaki-kun?"

"His house is opposite mine!" She laughed. I peered out the door frame to the living room's front window, seeing the sign of the Kurosaki clinic just outside, "Anyway, you may be strong, but you shouldn't go against a grande menos like that, you should of waited for me, or any shinigami for that matter." _'I'm being scold by someone I've just met! But then, she is a captain, I should listen to her.' _

"I'm sorry, but I-"

"Don't be sorry. You did the right thing about trying to stop it, but you should look out for your limits." She smiled once again. Her eyes drifted away from me, to the front door. Quickly, she shunpo-ed over and opened it, leaving me stranded in the white cushioned chair with a cup of pipeing hot milk tea. She re-entered the considerably large kitchen, followed by a fairly tall, brawny carrot top teen. He wore his normal scowl, but removed it as he turned to me.

"Thank god you're alright." I hung my head low as he sat quietly next to me. April removed herself from the room and left us alone.

"I'm sorry, Kurosaki-kun, I should of known that I'm not strong enough to go against grande menos."

"It's okay, as long as you are safe, I wouldn't know what I'd do if you were harmed." I kept my head down but blushed under my silky auburn locks. He sighed deeply before continuing.

"April is going to stay here for a week or two, so she's going to help you train, along with me." I picked my head up, and turned to his brown orbs. _'He's so hansome when he smiles.'_

**People, say hello to April Ukitake. She is my OC and WILL appear in ALL my stories ^_^ I'm like that since I love her so much. Please review and I'm already working on the next chapter... but don't know how long it will take :( sorry. **

**-xlilslayerx-**


	6. Training with April Day 1

**So here is the next chapter! Like I said, I'm going to be busy so I don't know exactly when the chapters would be posted, so please stay patient. ^_^ Thank you to those who reviewed and Enjoy!**

**nypsy; No she's not the real mum, she's just the new captain. ;)**

**xChrushxChanx18; Her name is Ukitake because in my other story, she's Jushiro Ukitake's daughter. To save the confusion, she is never refured as Ukitake taicho. Hope this helps a little.**

** xXmegachompXx; Yay your back! ^_^ Thank you, I've given up on telling you I'm not though.**

**I've decided that since I find it hard to still follow the paragraphs, but you as an audience like the dialogue spaced, each new paragraph will have a 'bold' setting on the first word, that way I might be able to follow as well as you.**

**"Hey**, Ichigo?" April turned to him as she watched Orihime pratice using her Koten Zanshun against the artificial rocks, "Have you ever tried using shunpo in your human body?" They sat on the ground with their zanpactou on their laps. He opened one eye and turned to the captain.

"No, I've never tried, why?" She kept her eyes closed and meditated carefully.

"I was just wondering, if humans can shunpo, that is if they have spirital pressure, then maybe, so could Orihime. It's a long shot, but she might need it."

"Well, Ishida can use it, well he calls it something else, but it's still a shunpo."

"Ishida?"

"Ishida Uuryu, he's a quincy, but still human." Her eyes shot open, obviously reacting to the phraise.

"Maybe, if you get back into your body, you could try it for me?" He put zangetsu back against his back and followed her request. She watched him silently leave, keeping track of her deep thought.

**"Tell** me, Orihime, have you ever fought with a sword before?" She called to me as we stood opposite eachother on the training ground.

"No." I replied.

"Okay, well, what about hand-to-hand combat?"

"Yes, Tatsuki-chan tought me a little of her karate."

"That's good! It does help to have another source of power or strength, just incase something happens to your Shun Shun Rikka." She shunpo-ed to a few feet infront of me, "How much karate do you know?"

"Just the basics." April placed her hand onto her chin as she eyed up and down my body, making me feel extremaly uncomfortable.

"Well, I guess we could use them. I also know karate, but the style may be different. Insted, I'll teach you some things from the shinigami acadamy." She stood next to me and begun showing a few more basic techniques. I followed obediantly, eager to know more about the level of body strength I could reach. Ichigo watched us at the side, turning a slightly sour gaze towards April; reminding me of what he mentioned earlier today.

_"Listen, Orihime, April is a nice woman, but being that she's a captain, her way of teaching maybe slightly more advanced or tiresome. If you start to get badly hurt, then please tell her, I don't want you to end up really injured."_

_"You're very protective Kurosaki-kun, and I'm happy you're worried about my well being, but I'm not going to get any better if I don't push myself once in a while." _

I shot a quick glance to him and held back my blush. _'I'm glad Kurosaki-kun is protective. It's in his nature, and it's what makes him so kind. I'll protect myself Kurosaki-kun, and I'll fight by your side.' _

**April's** fist collided with my leg, blocking the kick and quickly guiding it to her side, revealing the opening to my ribs. I shot my own body into a flip, crashing my other foot into her face and her other hand sliced along my abdomen. Sweat fell down my face, my breath laboured and my limbs ached for a well needed rest - but still I continued. As Ichigo sternly remined, April's training was much more hardcore and restless, however, I was willing to push myself further. I glided along the floor, making my bangs swirl infront of my face. Ichigo held my pins, guarding them as if it were his life. Safaia played with cat-form Yoruichi. Her innocent laugh kept my concentration high, I knew this was for her. I knew this was for myself. April shunpo-ed behind me.

"Never take your eyes off your opponent." Her kick reached my head, making me fall to the ground. I heard Safaia cry 'mama' to me and Ichigo going to console her. As only a toddler, she didn't know this was only a freindly fight, to her, this was a battle to which she didn't understand. I broke my fall and kicked my foot up to the blonde woman, only for her to catch it and swing my above her head. Many bruises were forming over me, April didn't even break a sweat. Her hazel eyes shimmered as she carefully assest my progression. I pulled myself up, loosing the last of my adrenaline, and my motivation. I coughed some of the inhaled sweat and pushed my shakey legs back into a fighting stance. She smiled as she knew that, even though I was at the brige of my power, I still wanted to carry on.

"Orihime, if you need a break then just say, if you keep pushing yourself, you'll cause an injury."

"I want to continue." She raised a neat eyebrow before shrugging and speeding towards me. I firmly locked my feet in place and held my hands ready. Her fist pelted against my arm, taking me slightly back, but I swiftly hooked her arm, putting her into an arm lock. My foot swept her own to make her crash against the ground. Without realising, I twisted her arm further. Everything grew silent as a loud crack was heard from my place. I let go of the limb and pushed myself back, watching her get up as it stayed limb by her side. Ichigo, Yoruichi, April, even Safaia stared at me with the same shocked expression. April was the first to smile.

"I don't believe it!" She shouted in excitement, "You actually broke my arm!" _'And she's smiling?" _

"I'm sorry, April-chan!" I screamed back to her, begining to panic.

"Sorry? You should be happy with yourself, you have much more strength than I origanly thought. And the fact you managed to get me in an arm lock, that I wasn't expecting means that your tatics are very well preserved." Confusion struck me as a blue field covered her broken limb. I took my gaze to Ichigo, who was still obviously shocked, but held a half smile as he grabbed Safaia.

**The** dingy black sky loomed over us as we strided along the pavement towards our homes.

"I was really surprised of what you did today." Ichigo continued the conversation, "You have enough motivation to break someone's arm, yet when you first begun, I knew you as someone who couldn't hurt a fly!" I chuckled nervously as I pushed a sleeping tot in the pram.

"I was surprised too, it was unintentional, but I couldn't stand seeing Safaia's face in dismay, something took over me. It was thrilling, but so terrifying." He nodded in argreement. I looked to his eyes shimmering under the stars. His hair was hit with the luminous moon, creating a dark sence to the colour, but in a hansome way. His scowl as became less as he stood around me. I knew that he alwaysed used it around his other friends, but I didn't know why he alwaysed dropped it when around me.

"Kurosaki-kun-"

"Please, Orihime-san, Ichigo." I quickly blushed as I was left speechless. I was unaware of why I was speechless, all he said was to call him by his first name.

"I-Ichigo-kun." He turned his gaze to me, giving a beautiful soleum look as he awaited my question.

"I was just wondering, um-"

"Yes?"

"Why do you never scowl when around me? I mean, when you are around your other friends, you are always scowling, but, when you're around me, you never do. I'm not complaining or anything but..." I trailed off, wishing I didn't just ask that.

"I hate seeing you when you are upset or scared. Everytime I see you like that, it reminds me of all those times I caused it. I don't want to see you like that anymore, so I don't scowl because I don't want you to worry about me, or be afraid of me." He turned away from my gaze and focused on the path ahead.

"You've never made me afraid Ichigo-kun, you make me feel secure."

"Secure?" He turned back to me in confusion.

"Even when I first saw your hollow mask, even though I was scared at first, I still saw you underneath. This made me realise that you were still the man I fel- I knew, and was still my friend. You're so protective over me, it makes me smile. You make me feel nothing can harm me or get in my way. Because of you Ichigo-kun, is why I want to become stronger, so that way I can also protect myself, and you." He was surprised at my small speech, but smiled anyway. My love for him still roamed, and the aura around us built up to a comfortable warth of happiness. Something begun to take over me, something I liked, almost as if my heart was going to burst of love. Our heads moved the slightest bit closer each second we stayed there.

"Ichigo-kun, I-" Safaia's cry tore the atmosphere. We realised how close we were had broke off, blushing terribly. I walked around to the chair and tended to her, secretly smiling at the event that could of happend this wonderful night. _'Can Ichigo-kun love me in return?'_

**TheCatWithTheHat made me realise that I lacked IchiHime, yet it's a IchiHime story, so thank you for that, I added the last bit just for you, I hope it works out okay. Thanks for reading and please review!**


	7. Sweet dreams

**Hi! I finally came up with something for this chapter, and, I have to say it, I am REALLY proud of it ^_^ I don't want to sound big headed or anything but I think I've write this chapter so brilliantly. Thank you to my reveiwers and Enjoy!**

**Warning; This chapter is full of IchiHime-ness and nothing else :P Please enjoy and reveiw!**

_**"Why**, why are you doing this?" My tears flooded down my face as I stared up to the vile, immoral woman. She placed her frigid gaze towards Ichigo before sending a savage volt into his butchured body._

_"Ichigo!" I screamed, but my voice was cut off as she held me by the throat, pulling me off the ground._

_"Why? To revenge those who trapped me in that defencless body. Thanks to you, I can make that happen..."_

I shot up from the dream. Checking around the room, I saw I was still in my bedroom, lying on my silken prussian blue bed. The tears from my dream formed uncontrollably into my eyes, streaming down my cold, sweaty body. I didn't understand the nightmare I had just witnessed, but the pain of it struck my so horribly, like ripping out my heart and throwing me in a icy river, it felt like someone close to me had just died; And I was the reason why. I calmed down and checked over to Safaia. She slept peacefully in a subtle dream, unnoticing my discomfort and distress. The cloudless stary sky grew a welcoming glow to the silent night but still I cried. I searched my chaotic mind for the face that brought me so much hurt, so much torchure, but it did not appear. No matter how hard I tried, the woman was gone. Tears did not clear from my frightened eyes, I was trapped in bounded walls, unable to move or escape my petrified soul. I begun to take deep breaths, carefully manoeuvring up from the bed, and past all the scattered toys. I entered the gloomy living room, bringing it to a darkened light as I pressed the switch. My eyes wondered to behind me, back to the verdigris cot before walking towards the kitchen. I fiddled with my dampened fingers and sweaty hair as my heart thumped vigorously against my chest, my brain still puzzled at the small occurrence that left before I could register it. Water from the tap filled the transparent glass as I finally begun to calm myself. I lent on the counters, downing my drink instantly. The dream felt too real to ignore, I hadn't had a nightmare since Sora had died, what was happening to me? Maybe I was just thinking to much into it, but maybe there was something else about it. Little detail I could remember: Ichigo in his bankai, but cut up like a hooligan had used a knife against him, my bangs covered my face, indicating that my pins were not in my hair, there was no way I would be in a battle without my pins, unless, unless they were taken. I felt the pain of the cuts on my body and I felt the blood ooze down slowly. How could something like this be ignored? Why could I remember me and Ichigo, even remember being in the soul society, but not remember our attacker? Quickly, I headed to the bathroom and begun to run a warm bath. _'I need to think straight.' _

**I** sat arched on the sofa, trying to work out everything that had just happened. _'She held Orihime up by the neck, I remember seeing her frightened eyes as she looked into her attacker's face, but why can't I remember the woman's face?' _I shook my head as the picture just didn't return. _'Should I tell Orihime about this? No, it's just a dream, surely it means nothing.' _Still it pounded in my brain, no matter how much I tried to convince myself that it was nothing, it just seemed to real. I felt I was defeated, lying in the bottom of a crater, my bones snapped in various places, blood coming out of so many slices across my body, I felt my heart grow angry at Orihime's terrified face. How I just wanted to continue, and help her reach her ordinary, smiley look once again, help her not be frightened, but my body refused to do my bidding. I placed my head in my palms and rubbed my face, forcing them through my tangled locks. I picked up my phone next to me and looked at the time; 02:45. I wondered through the contacts, the light burning my tired eyes. _'I shouldn't, I don't want to disturb her, but this could be quite important.' _Before either of the sides that battled in my head won, my phone buzzed in my sweaty hand, shocking me at the caller I.D. I placed it by my ear.

"Orihime?"

"Ichigo-kun? I'm sorry to disturb you, but, I need to talk to you, can you come over?"

"You didn't disturb me, I was already awake, sure I'll be there in about 20 minutes."

"Thank you." The line grew dead, still leaving me in a slightly shocked state. Her voice sounded croaky, as if she had been crying. _'On the other hand, it could be because she had just woken up?' _I didn't bother trying to work it out, I got up and headed back upstairs.

**"So**, what's happened, Orihime?" We sat on her apricot sofa, as she opened up.

"It's going to sound abit silly, really, but, I- I had a nightmare that seemed... to real to ignore." Instantly my eyes bulged, grabbing her attention. I inwardly slapped my face to make it return normal as she continued,

"I was- you was- I mean- well, um, we were in the soul society, you were in your bankai, but you were-"

"Lying on the floor, almost as if I had just been defeated in a battle."

"Eh! How did you know I was going to say that?"

"I had the same dream, that's why I was already awake." She lent in a little closer towards me.

"Do you remember the womans face?"

"No, I don't. I was hoping you would of been able to tell me." She was disappointed at my answer and lent back to her place,

"To be honest, I was about to call you, but I didn't want to disturb you." Her beautiful grey eyes turned towards me as she slightly smiled.

"If you ever need me then don't worry about disturbing me, I'll still answer." I felt my cheeks flare up as she gave such a wonderful gaze, one I couldn't place. But her smile turned into the saddened gaze she held earlier, taking her eyes off me and onto the floor.

"What's wrong?" She just shook her head before I noticed her eyes strike water.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo-kun, I really didn't want to cry infront of you, but..." Her hands went up to her face, as she sobbed. Sub-consciously, I scooted next to her, wrapping my muscular arm around her delicate shoulders. I noticed that they had grew slightly, showing a little more muscle resulting from her training. Her hands slid down, showing her shimmering eyes as she turned them to me.

"It's okay, Orihime, don't ever hold back your emotions." I didn't know what I was doing, it was incredibly out of character to be comforting someone, let alone holding them, but there was something about the zealous princess before me that created my sence to make sure she never was sad, or scared, I wanted to see her smile. She was like a toxin to me, and I couldn't control it, seeing her always brought a smile to me, seeing her happy filled my insides with such a warm passion that I never wanted to end, what was wrong with me? My other arm went around the front of her shoulders, putting her in a loose hug. Hesitatingly, she placed one small hand onto my chest, then the other, then finally her head. My chin rested on her as my arms grew tighter around her.

"Thank you." She whispered under my body, "Thank you for being my friend, and for taking care of me, Ichigo-kun." The lovely touch of her was too much for someone to handle without smiling. My hand ran down her beautiful hair, taking in the silkiness of a strawberry lullaby that her hair gave out. The scent was Inoue. I didn't want to let go of her, my heart pounded so fast it felt like it was trying to reach hers, and I felt hers beat against my chest in return. My emotions ran wild inside me, but none showed displeasure, or unhappiness, I finally realised why I had been feeling like this around her. Why I couldn't let her go, why I could stand seeing her sad or scared, why I just wanted to stand by her and hold her close. I was in love. I was in love with the goddess of Karakura high, the girl every guy wanted. I alwaysed thought I wasn't like them, but my way of loving her was different. Unlike the perverts in our school, I loved her for who she was, I didn't lingual over her body, or stare at her as if she was just a piece of meat. But I knew already that there was no chance of her loving me in return. She alwaysed said 'thank you for being my friend,' which ment that's all she saw me as, just a close friend she could talk to and trust. _'Why would someone as perfect as Orihime love me anyway? She could have whoever she wanted, why would she want some punk like me?' _It did make me sad to know that some lucky guy would have her one day, one that wouldn't be myself. If she decided to date any guy that didn't treat her right, I knew it would be me who would sort him out. _'Unless Tatsuki got there first.' _A small sound of rhythm breathing brought me out of my thoughts. I slowly moved myself and checked where it was coming from, and blushing when I found the source. Orihime silently dreamt with a slight blush, a smile, and still lent on my chest. She was beautiful, I knew I had said that alot about her, but it was defiantly true. Unwanting to disturb her, I lent back on the sofa and let her sleep. The warmth of her body against my own was by far more than any blanket could give me, and placed me in such a wonderful place that made my own eyes heavier. I fell asleep with the girl I loved in my arms.

**Now I need your opinion, do I continue IchiHime-ness for the next chapter or do I go back to Safaia and April? Because I notice that, if I talk about Safaia, I lack IchiHime, if I use IchiHime, I lack Safaia. I'll try doing both at one point, but right now, I wanna focus on one or the other. ;D How do you think the chapter went? And the dream IS important so don't forget about it! I'll remind you about it when the right chapter is up but that won't be for AGES! Reveiw ;) See you another day!**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	8. Daddy's little girl

**ARGH! I'M SORRY! I know I haven't uploaded in ages, I was just having alot of trouble thinking of what to write -_- Please forgive me. Anyway, I tried using Safaia and IchiHime in this story, please tell me how you think it went. Thankyou to those reviewing, as you asked, I have alot of IchiHime in this chapter, and I might have next too, but I'll have April in it as well. Enjoy!**

**I **woke up silently to the sound of harsh coughing coming from my achy side, memories flooding back into my drowsy mind of the calm night that had past this world. _'Did I even get back home?' _I popped an eye open to find my answer; No. The heavy coughing recaptured my weary attention, making me glance down at the auburn haired source. The lovely goddess finally stopped and sniffled as she lent back down onto my chest.

"Has this run down sofa always been so cosy?..." She whispered.

"Orihime?" I watched as she tensed up before drifting her head upwards, towards my face.

"Ichigo-kun!" She practically screeched as she fell onto the floor, "Ouch..."

"Are you okay?" Quickly I tended to her fallen body, helping her back onto her tired feet and kept her balance, also noticing how freezing her skin was.

"I-I'm fine Ichigo-kun, you just star- startle- ACHOO!" Inoue fell back into my grip, sniffling and shaking. My hand met her forehead to check her temperature.

"You're burning up." I lead her back onto the apricot sofa and carefully layed her down. I gripped her tender hands, pushing myself down to her level on the floor next to her head.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo-kun, I kept you from going home, didn't I? She whispered in a crackling voice.

"No, it's fine, just don't worry about me and rest." Suddenly, a loud cry broke through the quietness, pumping my ear drums until they hurt.

"Oh, Safaia! I need to sort out Safaia's food." She tired to force herself up, holding her head in obvious pain.

"Lay down, Orihime-san, I'll sort out Safaia." Quickly I shot up to head to the crying angel, only to be held back by the tight grip on my hand.

"Are you sure?" I turned to her worried, sickly gaze and gave my own reassuringly smile.

"If I'm unsure of what to do, I'll ask, okay?" I spoke in my most calm voice to keep her from worrying too much. She smiled, still unsure, in return and let go of my hand, letting me handle the tiny tender toddler from her cot.

**"Tank **ku, daddy!" She cooed as I gave her her morning porridge. _'Daddy?' _My heart melted at the sight of the loving child, and filled back up again at her soft touch as she grabbed my gigantic hand. Against my palm, her hand was only the width of my index and wedding finger, and the height of the bottom of my thumb to the bottom of my middle finger. Such tiny, delicate hands but such huge, beautiful eyes. She truly was an angel. She scoffed her breakfast down, causing a huge mess over her angelic face and the high chair table, still her innocent smile broke through. After she finished, she begun to wonder her gaze around the room.

"Where's mama?" She questioned worriedly.

"Mama's not well, she's resting." I certainly wasn't used to talking to young children, but I tried talking her language.

"Bart now."

"What?"

"Bart... time... bart after... bekfust."

"Oh, bath." It was understandable that she had a bath after eating so virosiously, but there was only one real problem; I hadn't bathed a child since Karin and Yuzu were this little, and I couldn't remember how to do it. She giggled at my confused face as I lifted her out, turning back to the living room. Orihime layed soundly on her shabby sofa, her baggy clothes pulled down towards the ground to show her truly, well-preserved curves. Even her hair still kept it's radiousy as it brushed against her face and body. Her lovely grey eyes kept half closed as she watched the morning news.

"Orihime, where's the bathroom?" She pointed her shaky finger to the door at her feet, "Thanks." Safaia begun to struggle in my grasp, reaching out towards Orihime with a huge smile plastered on her face.

"Mama, mama!"

"No, Safaia, you can see her after your clean." I felt slightly embarrassed to be talking like this in front of Orihime, but she seemed to not mind. Safaia stopped struggling and pouted, crossing her arms angrily. It only made me smile towards her.

**Ichigo** walked out the bathroom with a half-naked Safaia in his arms, not looking very impressed. His clothes were covered in baby food and soaked hair dripped along his handsome face. Safaia just laughed as he placed her down, letting her roam once again in her paradise of toys over the floor. I stifled my giggles as he sat down by my feet and held a towel against his face, mumbling angrily underneath.

"Ichigo-kun, if your having trouble then please just ask me for help." I smiled. He looked out from the towel, softening his gaze and smiling in return.

"After bathing her, I managed to somehow get her nappy on, but there is no way I'm going to be able to keep her still long enough to put some clothes on." He replied quite annoyed. I giggled a little before pushing myself off the sofa. _'Ow, my head hurts...' _I picked up my little bundle, not showing any signs to Ichigo that I was in alot of pain.

"Mama!" She wrapped her strong little arms around my neck before turning around to Ichigo and sticking her tongue out, "Bad daddy! Daddy bad!"

"What did you do?" I laughed, trying not to think about her shouting in my ear.

"Nothing, honest!" She stuck her tongue out once more before hugging me tighter. Finally, I took her to the bedroom to find her clothes.

**"Here**." Ichigo walked in, steadily holding the small bowl of soup in his unfalty grasp, the chartreuse oven gloves covered his hands in order for the burning liquid to not harm his skin. Slowly, he pushed the food onto the tiny table in front of me, carefully placing the spoon into my shaky hand before attending to Safaia's lunch.

"Thank you, Ichigo-kun, but if you don't want to take care of me, I fully understand." I kept trying my best to stop myself from troubling him any further, but was at war with my own mind at the same time. _'Am I troubling Ichigo-kun this way? Maybe I should say that I'm fine and that he can go home, but I love all this attention I'm getting from him, and I don't want to seem rude by saying he could go home.' _As this battle continued to give my headache something to pound at me, my absent-minded hand reached out for the bowl.

"Ouch!" I quickly pulled my burnt fingers away from the heated soup and tended to them.

"Are you alright?" Ichigo pelted to my side and knelt down beside me.

"I'm fine, Ichigo-kun, just burnt myself, that's all."

"Let me see." He grabbed my hand calmly and examined my already swollen fingers. _'His touch is so soft.' _I smiled inwardly as I held back my blush. As quickly as he came, he got back up and headed for the kitchen, bringing back a damp tea towel, pressing it onto my hand and sitting next to me.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo-kun, I'm just really clumsy." I laughed slightly. He smiled at my remark, unbeknownst to me as to why he was.

"I told April that you were ill, and that you wouldn't be training today, just so you know, she said that it's fine and will see you when you get better."

"Oh, okay." The silence wasn't at all awkward, but it wasn't comfortable either. Ichigo continued holding my hand underneath as the other held the damp towel. Finally, he removed the towel and examined it further.

"Nothing serious." He whispered and begun to bring my hand closer to his defaulted face, making me smile as he took care of me. _'He's so caring, it's in his nature I gu- wait, WHAT!' _My hand got pulled right up to his lips as he kissed my burnt area. My face ended up as red as my finger.

"Ichi-Ichigo-kun?" Suddenly, his own eyes begun to bulge as his cheeks flared up.

"I-I'm sorry, Orihime-san, I'm so used to doing that to Karin and Yuzu, it just came to me-" His own zealous nature was brought up as he crashed onto the ground. I tried to stifle my laugh, but it was too much, I begun to laugh at this side of Ichigo I had never witnessed, his zealousness was just as bad as my own, and as clumsy as well. I kept laughing as I held out a hand for him, letting him grab it and smile himself, laughing a little at his own clumsiness.

"Make sure you eat, otherwise you'll feel worse." We still laughed slightly as he walked into the kitchen, to Safaia. _'I wish he could love me in return...'_

_**'Oh **__great! Now she's going to think I'm such a clumsy idiot! Why the hell did I do that? She's too good for me, I need to control myself!' _Safaia fiddled with the hem of her fandango top, picking at the tiny fake diamond gems at the edges as she swallowed down her own milk mixture. I lent on the counter she sat on and face-palmed myself at my idiotic-ness. _'How could I be that stupid!' _I sighed irritatedly but still smiled at myself. I didn't regret kissing her hand, the softness of her skin was so divine, it felt wonderful, and so right. I just regretted over-reacting afterwards. I stole a quick glance over to her, she carefully picked up the spoon and placed the soup into her mouth, licking her lips and pulling a wonderful face of satisfactory. Her face was slightly pale were she was ill, but still beautiful, her great doe eyes lit as they shone out from the slightly darkened room. Her phone began to ring, making me turn back away so she could have some privacy, but still I could hear her.

"Hello?"

_'Probably Tatsuki.'_

"Oh, Ishida-kun!"

'_Ishida?'_ I stood at the door frame, knowing what I was doing was wrong, but this was just weird.

"Yes, I'm fine, just a little ill, and you? Good. Ichigo-kun? Yes, he's here, did you want to speak with him? Oh, okay- No, he's taking care of me. No, he's not. Eh? Ishida-kun, I'd expect something like that from Tatsuki-chan, not you!"

_'What the hell is he saying?'_

"Sorry. Yes. Oh, not today, maybe another time, when I'm better. It's fine. Sure, Wednesday then, last time was great. Okay, see you then, bye!"

_'Did- did she just... Is she going on a date with ISHIDA?' _I couldn't believe my ears. I tried to think of other reasons she could go with Ishida to do, but nothing came to mind. _'Surely, I'd know if she liked Ishida... right?' _But all the signs seemed to point that way; why she alwaysed over-reacted when I tried to hold her, why Ishida told me he'd kill me if I hurt her, or why she alwaysed said I was a 'friend' and that's it. She liked Ishida, I had no chance against him. As much as I hated to admit it, he was smarter than me, he could protect her easily, they shared some of the same interests, and why he stayed around her alot. _'Should I ask her about this? But I'd give myself away if I just ask out of the blue, I need to find out.' _My heart felt like it was being torn out of my chest. Knowing that Orihime could like my worst enemy was horrible, devastating, even worse. I would rather be thrown into the fires of hell before loosing her to that arrogant bastard.

**"Is **this one alright?" She held out the DVD for my approval. I lounged on the sofa and peered over the cover, nodding in acceptance. The dark angel on the front held a red rose in her cupped hands, her face facing towards the camera above her, smiling devilishly. The words 'Black Night' stretched in blood red above the black clothed teenaged girl. It was a romantic tragedy, Orihime seemed to have a full collection of them. She quickly placed the film into the tray and sat back next to me, wrapping herself in the fleece blanket lying on the sofa. Safaia played silently with her rabbit and mini tea set, giving me and Orihime some time to relax.

"This is one of my favourites." She smiled, "But I won't tell you what it's about."

"I've seen it before." I slyly remarked, giving a half smile, "I took Rukia to see it once when it first came out in the cinema." Her face dropped slightly, but perked up once again, only this time, it seemed more dull, and...forced.

"Aw, you took Rukia-chan on a date to the cinema?" She begun to tease. _'What the...?' _

"A date? You've got to be kidding! I wouldn't take that annoying midget anywhere, she wanted to go see it with Renji, but neither one of the idiots knew how cinema's worked, so Renji got kicked out. Rukia asked if I could show her so next time they'll have no trouble." I tried to explain. _'As if I'd ever go on a date with __**her**__!' _

"Oh, okay." She giggled, "But I really thought you liked her!"

"No, Rukia, she's, well... I do love her, but as like a best friend, or a pain-in-the-ass sister, I don't actually love her in that sence!" I could feel myself blushing at the misunderstanding, just the thought was bad enough!

"Anyway, Byakuya would kill me if I ever tried to be with Rukia." She laughed slightly and nodded.

"Anyway, what about you and Ishida?" I started to tease her back, "I heard that your going on a date with him too!" This may have been teasing to her, but it was my way of finding out.

"Eh! Me and Ishida-kun? Where did you hear that?" She was full faced staring at me, obviously shocked and embarrassed, this could of been either she was, or wasn't at the moment.

"Well, I heard you on the phone earlier, that you were going somewhere on Wednesday and that 'last time was really fun'." I stated, laughing at her over-zealous nature.

"No, no, that wasn't a date! We're going to get the supplies for the handicraft's club!" _'The handicraft's club? Of course! That's how I first got to know who he was, when Orihime took me there.'_

"Oh, that explains, but I still think he likes you." I needed to continue the act, so it didn't seem too weird.

"I like Ishida-kun too, but just as a friend, like you said about Rukia-chan." She continued to watch the film, shivering under her blanket.

"Are you cold?"

"Just a little." I knew that after what I did roughly an hour ago, it would of been strange of what I was thinking of doing, but proceeded to anyway. I wanted her to get better soon, so I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her into my own body. She instantly stopped chattering, but blushed badly. Still she smiled and made herself comfortable, snuggling into my side and pushing the blanket over both of us.

"Thank you, Ichigo-kun." She whispered.

"You're welcome."

**There. Two full chapters of IchiHime ^_^ Now she knows that Ichigo doesn't like Rukia and Ichigo knows she doesn't like Ishida, but both will STILL have their doubts. :P Btw, I know that her bathroom is in the kitchen (after seeing the episode of when Rangiku had a bath round her house) but I don't care, I wanted it like this, so please don't tell me about that, THANK YOU! Please review, they seem to be dropping lately and I'm not happy, my motivation is dropping because of it :( See you whenever I can think of a new chapter (Any idea's would be very grateful) Bye!**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	9. Training with April Day 2

**OH MAN! I am so HAPPY with this chapter! I've set myself a goal now, I'm going to start making the chapters longer ^_^ THIS IS MY LONGEST AT 5736 WORDS! AND it's only like, what, two days after my last update? I'm fricken' outstanded with myself! Okay, back to normal xlilslayerx... I'm not big-headed or anything, I'm just over emotional when proud with myself. Thank you to those who reviewed, and please continue reviewing after enjoying this chapter.**

**Abby; Thanks for that idea :D I might sneak it in somewhere if you don't mind ;)**

**saveme57; Lol that would be funny but I've made her a little kinder in the story :P**

**nypsy; Yes, I also know about the hits but the problem is; last month I was reaching over 3000 hits, this month it's gone down to 1500, I'm disappointed at that too but thank you for being a great reviewer and sticking by me ^_^**

**TheCatWithTheHat; You have inspired my brain for this entire chapter O.O You can feel proud to know that this is dedicated to your amazing brain.**

**Also, if you do find the chapter too long (which I hope not) then tell me and I'll stop trying to reach my goal of 10 000 words and stick to this or lower, thank you.**

**Oh yes; WARNING; HUGE, MEGA, A-HELL-OF-A-LOT-OF IchiHime in this chapter ^_^ hope you likies!**

**"Are **you sure you want to go back so soon?"

"Yes, I'm feeling much better now, thanks to you, Ichigo-kun." I smiled lovingly towards him, the last three days of illness had been one of the best things that had happened to me for a while; Ichigo 24/7! Safaia had been just as happy as me to have her 'dad' take care of her, and take care of me. The mere thoughts and memories of him fondly tending to my health, so caringly, made my heart flutter with the breeze and take me to my own personal heaven. We stood outside the Urahara shop, assessing all the last decisions that Ichigo double checked, unsure of what I had decided. The welcoming rays of the morning sun beat down on us, delicately dancing on our awakening skin, having the gentle touch of the summer breeze sending tiny chills along my arms. The succulent smell of cinnamon buns and summer flowers caressed my nose as the sound of morning nine to five workers roamed the streets, chatting away eternally in their everyday lives.

"And are you sure Tatsuki will be fine with Safaia?"

"Ichigo-kun, she was more than happy to help, I'm sure they'll both be fine." He sighed assertively, leading me to grab his hand in reassurance and smiling. He smiled in return and squeezed my hand slightly, pulling me gently inside.

**The **shadowy area inside the indecipherable sweet shop hurt my eyes as they adjusted to the dim lighting. Wonderful smells and sounds were muffled down to almost nothing, leaving a terrible, eerie silence around us.

"Urahara-san?" Ichigo's call broke through the ghastly tranquillity but only nothingness answered, "I guess no-one's in." He concluded. I proceeded forward, letting go of my beloved's hand. My fingers traced over the ochre oak counters, observing the minuscule particles that I captured. _'There's not much dust, they haven't been gone long.' _I knew that Jinta and Ururu cleaned this place everyday, which meant that they hadn't been gone for more than a few hours. My gaze travelled back to the darkened carrot-top teen.

"Should we wait for them to return before going to the training grounds?" He wondered his own eyes around the shop before returning to me, nodding. I took one last breath of the ghastly atmosphere and followed Ichigo back to the celestial outdoors.

"Well what should we do now?" I placed my hand under my chin as we stood back outside in the basking sun.

"Should we go get some breakfast?" April had told me on our first day of training that she didn't want me to eat unless I was willing to have it at four in the morning, but I decided it wasn't worth it. Instead, she gave me a 'nutrition' breakfast that was given to the training shinigami in the academy in order to let them spar for hours without being, or feeling sick. My stomach ached for a luxuriate meal to cruise along my taste buds instead of the grey disgusting chunks of who-knows-what April gave me. To save me from being too tempted, Ichigo kindly skipped his own breakfast in order to continue helping my tiresome training; he had to have the same food I did, unfortunantly for him.

"I know a place just down the estate, we could go there?" He turned to me and grinned.

"Lead the way."

**I **watched as Orihime danced along the rocky street, her hair blissfully blowing around her radiant face, and for a while, I really thought about how beautiful she was; It was no wonder how she got labelled goddess of Karakura high. To see her soul filled with so much energy and life brought my own over-power with passion I had to control. She skipped along a few steps in front of me, still spinning around to the city's music. She turned back and faced me, giving a sensational smile, charged with an emotion I couldn't place, but made my heart jump for joy. Quickly, her dance stopped as she ran back to my side.

"It's just round this corner." I followed her intricate finger as she pointed to another street, smiling even wider.

"Orihime-san, are you okay? You're more hyper than usual." She pulled a face of slight confusion before replacing it with a pure, heart-filled grin.

"I'm just happy. I get to spend another day with Ichigo-kun, but this time, I'm not ill, I feel great." She finally calmed down slightly and walked silently next to me, holding onto her own hand. _'She wants to spend time with me?' _I took my hand out of my dark denim Jean pockets and slid it down her arm, disconnecting her own hands and placing my own in return. She didn't try to resist my grasp, but did turn her face away slightly. Everytime I did hold her, she begun to blush, but never liked to show me, I just didn't say anything about it.

"We're here." She announced. I turned to the building we stood in front of, a moderate sized cafe with pale white azalea rimmed in flower boxes, underneath seashell bay windows. The polar white place looked very cosy as did the young people you could see on the other side of the glass. We headed to the frosted pine door and entered, instantly enduring the smell of food wonders and the chorus chattering of care-free lives.

"Where should we sit?" Orihime asked politely. I scanned the area, finding a vacant round mahogany white table with two matching chairs, next to one of the bay windows at the front of the cafe.

"How about there?" Orihime looked over to the carefully placed table before nodding approvingly, letting me pull her over to it. Genteelly, I took one of the chairs out for the sumptuous auburn haired teen to let her sit before proceeding with my own.

"Thank you, Ichigo-kun."

**The **menu's listed many traditional Japanese dishes, all for each meal of the day. Both of us silently skimmed the appetising fares.

"Welcome, are you ready to order?" A young, bored-looking waitress greeted us. I glimpsed over to Orihime and smiled to ask if she was ready. Her gorgeous smile answered my unspoken question as a yes.

"Yes, can I have the Tamagoyaki please, and Ichigo-kun?"

"Miso soup please." We placed the menus back into the stand that centred the table as the waitress scribbled down the orders and hurry off without another word.

"This is such a lovely cafe, and, if I remember correctly, the food here is meant to be amazing!"

"If you remember?"

"Yes, I haven't been here since Sora took me, it's a special place to me, and that's why I brought you here." Orihime spoke with a sad smile until she spoke directly of me.

"Why's that?" I questioned, unsure what she meant.

"Because Ichigo-kun is special to me too." Her eyes closed as her head tilted to the side, letting the sun reflect wonderfully on her blushing cheeks and amorous smile. I returned it with my own blush and smile.

"You're special to me too." Orihime's doe grey eyes opened and gazed into my own brown orbs as her hand slithered onto mine. We begun to lean forward slowly, not thinking about anything but each other, as the cosy atmosphere disappeared into nothing. I could only see the beautiful goddess in front of me in a sea of darkness as she blushed and lent towards me.

"Ichigo-kun..."

"Orihime-san.."

"Your orders." The cafe returned to our eyes as we checked over to the source beside us. The dark-haired waitress held a horrible scowl that could exceed my own as she looked angrily to me, almost throwing down my soup. Her daggers met my own scowl before she turned to Orihime and placed her Tamagoyaki down, leaning down to her ear.

"Don't listen to men, they're all heart-breakers. You'll thank me one day." She told her before storming off.

"What did I do?" I questioned to no-one as I watched her recede.

"Not you, Ichigo-kun, alot of my friends are like that after they've broken up with someone they truly loved." Orihime lectured.

"Still, she had no right to say that." She nodded in agreement and begun to eat. I picked up my spoon and dipped it into the liquid goodness, holding it in my mouth to let the taste dance on my tongue before swallowing. I felt my eyes widen slightly as the taste flowed down to my growling stomach.

"Wow, this is sensational!" I admired the food more as it entered my mouth, never before did I think I could get so impressed with a taste. I looked over to Orihime, she was holding herself back so she didn't scoff it down like she did at home, but still didn't leave breaks between bites. It made me smile slightly to know that Orihime wasn't like those stupid girls who constantly watched their weight. Personally, I didn't think it was healthy to only eat a tiny proportion of salad everyday as their main meals, and a 'low-fat' bar for snacks, or constantly diet when they didn't need to. At least Orihime had some sence when it came down to her food, even if some of the combinations were terrible, at least she ate what she wanted to, when she wanted to. I loved seeing the face she pulled when she ate something she liked, a face of satisfactory that could be placed under her cutest ones. I didn't use 'cute' often but it does seem fit to say that's what she is when eating, and blushing for that matter.

"Ichigo-kun, is something wrong? You've been staring at me for a while now." I blinked a few times to bring me back to reality, and to see her confused face.

"Uh... Oh no, nothing's wrong, I was just thinking. I didn't realise I was staring, sorry."

"It's okay." She smiled. Her smile definatly wasn't cute, it was perfect, beautiful. I got back to my soup as she continued eating.

**"Can **I get you anything else?" The waitress huffed.

"Just the bill please." I answered politely. _'Poor girl, the angrier she seems the more her heart was probably broken.' _She quickly walked off as I reached for my gamboge frilled purse. Ichigo also reached into his own pocket.

"Ichigo-kun, what are you doing?" He glanced at me with confusion.

"I can't let you pay for me, so I'll pay, I don't mind." I smiled kindly but pushed his money back away as he placed it on the table.

"Just think of it as a thank you for helping me get better." I couldn't stop smiling today, and most of the time it was because of me being so close to Ichigo.

"I will pay for myself, I don't want you wasting your money on me." Ichigo playfully argued, pushing his money back. Without another word, I got up from my seat, taking Ichigo's money and stepping in front of him.

"You are not paying!" I laughed, pushing back into his chest and leaning close to him.

"Orihime everyone's staring at us." He pointed out quietly.

"I don't care." I smiled as I sat back down, feeling victorious, "I'm paying for both of us, okay?" He sighed in defeat but smiled back to me. Finally, the waitress gave me the piece of paper with the amount I owed the cafe. I quickly fetched the right amount and gave it to the woman, letting her leave Ichigo's sight for good.

"Should we go back to Urahara's now?" I asked.

"Why don't we go through the park this time?" I nodded as we got up and exited the wonderful place, into the sunlight paradise of our little town. Ichigo started to walk on in front of me, leaving me to watch as he went by.

"Are you coming?" He turned his great brown orbs over to me, making it seem like the stars were replaced inside of them as they shimmered under the sun. His smile was golden as he held his hand out for mine. I still didn't understand why Ichigo had these little touches to my hand, or those glances that seemed to make his face muscles relax so much, but I wasn't complaining. Maybe it was just his way to say that I was a good friend to him. _'But he never acts like this around Rukia.' _I started to wonder if Ichigo did like me, but it was highly unlikely. I ran beside him and grabbed his muscular hand. Ichigo was a wonderful, sensitive gentleman, who disguised himself as a punk, surely his type of woman who be those who could fend for themselves? I'm just a feeble damsel in distress would can't do anything, there was no way he could like me. Our fingers interlocked as we begun walking on, towards the park. _'Why do I always think like this? I guess there is always the chance I could be with Ichigo-kun, right? Maybe I should try and find out.' _My plan worked a few days ago to see if he did like Rukia, and he said she was just a friend. _'Am I being selfish to say that I'm glad that she's just a friend?' _I sighed as my brain started to overload. Ichigo squeezed my hand slightly, grabbing my diverted attention. His smile cleared my thoughts as I smiled back, remembering where I was. _'It doesn't matter if Ichigo-kun likes me or not, I still love him. And I could still try.' _We kept in a comfortable silence as we walked, to a stranger, we would of certainly looked like a couple, but sadly wasn't. The park wasn't too far away, the general sound of pragmatic parents scowling to their impetuous children to be careful, and the squeaking sound from the swings and other items on the playground grew louder. I could smell the dew-covered grass and blooming flowers as we entered though the rusty gate. The stony light path centred through the grass, giving a show of more people enjoying their individual lives. Barks of dogs, pedals of bikes, children, playground, I loved the thought of all these people having different jobs, coming from different countries and different tastes and smells I had never encountered. But they all didn't have something that I was glad to have; Ichigo. Absent-mindedly, I found myself holding onto his arm and leaning on his shoulder. Ichigo's smell over-powered all the flowers of the world. His smell of honey was very different, but so unique. It almost seemed intoxicating. I couldn't be happier walking along in his strong arms, everything was perfect.

**Having **her lean gently on my shoulder gave me her addictive scent of strawberries, one I couldn't fight, and didn't want to. I was almost bursting to tell her how I felt about her, but I needed to find the right time. My brief time alone with her seemed to bring an entire new side to me, I was less stressed about the hollows I was constantly fighting, as well as breaking down my barrier against other's touch, I even managed to start becoming more playful. Sure, I still got embarrassed about it, but everytime I saw her fascinating smile, it all washed away. She hugged my arm tightly as we strolled along the lapidary designed path, leaving us in a wonderful placid way. I wanted to talk to her, but at the same time, wanted to keep this silent comfortableness. If I talked and said the wrong thing, I could make it awkward for us. There was some much I wanted to tell her, but the words just wouldn't form in my head. There was so much I wanted to do, just to hug her, but she could react in such a negative way, making me look like a pervert or just weird. _'Why can't I just tell her how I feel? There is always that slim chance she could like me in return, no matter how tiny that chance is. All I could do is try.' _

"Orihime"/"Ichigo-kun." We vaguely laughed at our convenient timing.

"You first." I noticed her faintly blushing cheeks as her eyes shone brightly into mine. She pulled my hands and sat me on a bench.

"Ichigo-kun, um, I-I just wanted-wanted to say, um... Well, thank you, I guess, for being such an amazing friend." _'That's right, she just see's me as a friend.' _"You're always there when I need you, and you're so kind and selfless and I know I can trust you with anything." She fiddled with her locks with one hand as the other held onto mine, her eyes diverted to anywhere but to mine, but when they did find mine, something took over. Just seeing those lips so beautiful and pursed, I finally lost control of my own body. The next thing I knew, my lips had interlocked her own. Our eyes were wide and staring into eachother, blushes all over, but neither of us backed down. To my surprise, and happiness, her eyes closed as she returned it. The taste of her lips was even more to how I ever imagined, and I had to give in to them. Even as our lungs gasped, we only pressed away quickly for one breath before returning together. All my senses were focused on Orihime, my hands around her arms as they wrapped themselves around my neck, my nose only smelling the ravishing scent of strawberries and my eyes seeing the wonderful images of everyday I had ever spent with her replaying in my mind. To my displeasure, she parted from me, but kept her agile arms in their place.

"Ichigo-kun-"

"I love you." My mouth moved on it's own. Only until a few moments passed I realised what I had just proclaimed. Still, I couldn't turn away from her gaze, my lungs refused to breathe as I eagerly waited for an answer. Only a few days ago I had realised that I was crazy for the teenaged goddess, but it didn't matter, I knew that something was wrong with me everytime I saw her ever since Tatsuki introduced us, but I tried to ignore any signs that I loved her so I didn't become an obsessed pervert like the guys from school. Unlike them, I got to know her, and I fell in love for all the right reasons, instead of stare from afar.

**"You**-you do?" It was the most stupid thing I could of said right there and then, but still my brain was trying to figure out what just happened on these past few events. It was too much to take in. _'My fist kiss... With Ichigo? This can't be true, I must be dreaming, it's just too much of a perfect day to be right. What the hell, dream or not, I'm just so HAPPY!' _

"Yes, Orihime, I-I've loved you for so long, but it wasn't until Safaia came along that I realised it was true." _'I-I'm not dreaming...'_ Just to make sure, I carefully traced down his jaw line and cupped his cheek. _'He loves me... He loves me!' _My grin grew wider and wider as those words repeated in my head. I didn't kiss him again, instead, I threw my arms around him and hugged him tight.

"I'm glad. I'm glad you love me, Ichigo-kun, because... I love you too." I could feel him smile as his arms wrapped around my waist and his head pushed into my hair. As our heads moved once again to gaze into eachother's eyes, my hand begun to stroke his orange locks and my lips found, once again, his graceful ones. I could of stayed there forever, but I knew that we had to leave sooner or later. We parted and finally let go of eachother.

"Maybe we should start going again." He suggested, "As much as I want to stay here." I giggled and forced myself up, bringing Ichigo with me. Ichigo's hand grabbed my own, leading us back to the Urahara shop. No-one needed to know about the little things that had just happened, but I just wanted to scream it to the world.

**"April**-chan, I'm sorry! It won't happen again I promise!"

"Stop complaining and fight the pain, I want to teach you what tardiness could cause."

"April, maybe this is too much."

"Stay out of this Ichigo, if you where also my student right now, I'd be lounging on both of you!" She spat as she sat on my back, making me do a hundred push-ups, "Come on Orihime, just another sixty to go!" The sweat was pouring off of me as my arms shook to keep our weight up, my eyes grew a distant mist with my face deep red. I fully understood why I couldn't have a proper breakfast now, I was on the brig of hurling soon.

"After you've done this, we can get to work on our usual five hour training." _'I swear she wants to kill me!' _

"I'm not trying to kill you, Orihime-chan, but if you do die from over exhaustion, then you can become part of my squad and I can give you the advanced training."

"Advanced?" Ichigo bellowed out of surprise.

"Of course! You didn't think I'd give Orihime the stuff that she wouldn't be able to do, did you?" She spoke with such ease, almost as if it was obvious, and as if she was enjoying seeing me in such pain. I heard Ichigo sigh as I continued doing my hardcore workout, before watching him sit at my level beside me.

"Well, I'm helping her train too, so you might as well teach both of us." He stated before getting into the press-up position.

"Don't be an idiot, Ichigo."

"I'm not, I'm being serious." _'He just got insulted but didn't react? He is definatly serious." _

"Alright, fine." I felt the weight loosen as she kept her word and lounged over both of us. I faced Ichigo's lovely eyes as he gently held my hand and smiled.

"Thank you." I mouthed to him, glad that half the weight was shared.

**"Okay **Orihime, thanks to Ichigo, I have learnt that human with spiritual pressure can shunpo, so this is what I'm going to teach you as Ichigo finishes the other fifty press-ups since he was so keen to join in." I listen to the soft grunts coming from him as he continued, April sitting on his back as if he really was a chair, "To start off, I want you to focus all your resiteu into the soles of your feet, keep relax and just focus on them." My eyes closed gently as my breathing slowed down to a steady pace. Still the burning sensation of the push-ups pained my chest, but I didn't think about it at all, only the soles of my feet existed in my mind, and my spiritual energy. The feeling of it travelling down my chest, my abdomen, legs and ankles just felt like a chill of pins and needles until it rested, ready to burst, in the compressed area under my feet.

"Good, now, open your eyes, keeping your resiteu in your feet, and focus to a short distance away from yourself." Again, I listened, focusing to the point next to my young Sensei.

"And, now, let the pressure off, making the resiteu explode. If you do this slowly, it won't work, it needs to be in a quick burst." I pushed my feet off the ground, letting the pressure off, but only to jump over to my designated area more quickly. She sighed disapprovingly and got off of Ichigo, who finally slumped onto the ground.

"Your not done yet, Ichigo, you still have to catch up with Orihime so do some stretches then five laps around the entire field." She stated to him. His face scowled to the blonde woman as he got up and dusted himself off, beginning his stretches.

"Right, Orihime, you let your resiteu leak out before letting go of the pressure, which means that it couldn't create enough mass to let you shunpo. Don't worry, it's rare for someone to get shunpo first try, but it doesn't take more than a month to master short distances. Longer distances take more time because you have to think of where you want to go, instead of relying on sight. Anyway, let's try again, I'll do it with you." She stood next to me and placed me in a steady stance. Her hands reached to the centre of her chest.

"This is where your spiritual pressure lies, this is were you need to focus first in order to push it down your body. Think of it like ordinary air, it there is any holes as you push a board down in a container, the board would fall to the bottom, if there isn't anywhere that leaks, the air will compress, making it impossible to push the board down. That's what you need to do, push that board down to your feet, but not letting any resiteu escape." I repeated my focus, letting my sultry resiteu flow down, simply at first, but as it got further down, more complicated. Further and further it went, until I could feel it all in the bottom of my feet. My eyes widened as I focused onto my point of travel, letting it explode under my feet. April shunpo-ed away from next to me, onto the place I had focused onto. Still I jumped fastly to the ground, getting angry at myself for not being able to complete my first task of today's training.

"I see your problem, though I've never seen one like this before." April eyed down my body once again as she assessed what I was doing inaccurately, "You're, somehow, letting the energy release outside your own body. This allows you to jump at the speed of a shunpo, but more risk as enemies can follow your moves, it also takes you more time. I'll talk to some of the academy Sensei's to see what I can do about this, but right now, we'll have to skip it for now." I was disappointed that April couldn't teach me this certain thing, shunpo could of seriously come in handy. Ichigo ran up to us, hands on knees and breathing heavily, sweat dripping off his lowered heated face.

"How many laps have you done?" He still tried to regain his breath, begging his own body not to fall onto the dusty ground and admit to defeat. Instead, he held up his hand, all his fingers spread out.

"Five already? I don't believe you." His brown eyes met April's hazel ones, holding dread and fear in his face, "Ah, to hell with it, grab your breath, get a drink and I want to see some sparring. Five minute break then both of you against me, both weapon and hand-to-hand." She hurried off, shunpo-ing up to Urahara's shop to grab her unusual zanpactou: Sea blue sword guard with a orange rimmed handle and orange ribbon swaying as she swung it.

"Ichigo-kun?" He had already grabbed his water bottle and gulped it down.

"How much does she weigh? She seriously doesn't look that heavy!"

"Ichigo-kun?"

"Yes, Orihime-san?"

"Is there anything you can tell me to help me learn shunpo?"

"Um, well, not really sorry. Shunpo just comes naturally to me, just don't think about it too hard." I was incredibly disappointed that I couldn't be helped.

"Orihime-san?" I turned to him as his hand reached to behind his head, even with a reddened face from the workout, I could tell that he was also blushing, "Are we, you know, um, are we, like, together now?" I half smiled to him, but also kept a slightly saddened gaze.

"Not yet, Ichigo-kun, I want to get everything out the way first, like this training, and starting school again, and I need to sort out a child minder, or a school for Safaia. I'm sorry."

"Oh, it's okay, I mean, I understand. Um-" I planted a quick kiss onto his lips to tell him that one day, maybe we could be together. His smile pulled his blush away once again, but placed a faint one onto me.

"I can wait forever if I have to."

"Well, Ichigo, I never thought of you as a lady's man!" He stiffened as his face's blush returned, casting his eyes to the side, almost as if hoping that the person who stood behind him was a figment of his imagination. I watched April force a pitiful laugh. Something seemed off with her today, I couldn't tell at all of what it was, but something was not like her. She shunpo-ed away from behind Ichigo, leaving me baffled as I felt her grip tight on my hair. My eyes dilated as her zanpactou breathed onto my neck, inches away from leading me to my death.

"Well what will you do now Ichigo?" She shouted, "If you move, she dies. If you even try to shunpo behind me, or try to remove her from me, she dies! Well, what are you going to do?" His face was worse than shocked, he was mortified as his muscular arms stayed mid-air and his eyes flicked between us both. The ghostly zanpactou dropped from my neck as April's powerful grip loosened, letting me stand back up onto my shaky feet.

"Let that be a lesson to you both. If you fight alongside someone you love, be prepared to deal with the impossible. And never, I mean NEVER, let your enemy find out about you and your partner's relationship. As a vital target, Ichigo, Orihime will stand as a valuable target to get you to do their bidding, it's a very old trick, but it does happen." She walked steadily up to him, eye to eye, with her grip around the top of his shirt.

"You can call my training, tiring, pushing it too far, horrible, but one day you'll thank me. I don't tolerate tardiness, or laziness because it can cost you your life. And I may look weak, but remember, I am a captain, I am an eighth Dan at karate. I've trained alongside Yoruichi, Urahara, Jushiro, Shunsui and Byakuya, I do know what I'm doing. That 'weight' you never realised I had, is all muscle." She let go of his shirt and placed her head in her hand, shaking it slowly.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't of come today myself, I'm a mess at the moment. Just, um," She sighed tiredly, "Ichigo, can you help Orihime-chan train for today, I need to go back to soul society for a while, I'll probably be myself again tomorrow." Her saddened gaze told me that, no matter how curious I was to what was wrong, I had to leave her be for a while.

"Sure, we'll see you tomorrow." Ichigo felt the same as me as he dismissed her, letting her shunpo away from our sight and sixth sence.

"I wonder what happened." I was indeed worried for her, she wasn't usually this harsh, she was usually a kind, fun-loving woman but now...

"Let's just continue training, we can ask her tomorrow."

**Safaia **slept on Tatsuki's shoulder as we walked back to my home. The sunset brought many crimson and citrine over the cloudless sky, giving a warm glow to everything we past, including eachother. My arms were exposed to the lovely vibrant colours and tenderness of the calm heat, no wind creating a ribbon of goosebumps or throwing my hair into a wrath of fury.

"How was Safaia today?"

"She wasn't that hard to handle, every now and again, I had to be quite stern with her but except for that, she played nicely and was like a little angel." The 2nd toughest girl in Japan answered.

"Good..." I wasn't really thinking about Safaia's behaviour, I was more focused on everything that had happened today, it was almost to much to consume.

"Alright, what's with you, Orihime? You're acting way too calm, and you haven't even begun chatting away in my ear about your day! I kind of missed that whilst you were ill." I laughed slightly but still didn't react, "Orihime... I know you spent all day with Ichigo, actually, now I think of it, you've spent four full days with him!"

"Eh! How did you know that?" My zealous nature kicked in, but I covered my mouth as Safaia begun to fidget slightly.

"I could sence your spiritual pressure next to his; You both leak quite alot. But, roughly, I'd say... ten o'clock, both of yours sky rocket-ed! What happened? It was even too much to be a grande menos, so I'd know if your lying or not." _'Ten o'clock?... That's when we kissed... Can I trust Tatsuki not to tease us? Then again, Ichigo-kun didn't say not to tell anyone about it.' _

"Well... I, um... we, uh..."

"Don't stall." Tatsuki had an evil grin plastered on her face as she stared at me with her light brown orb gaze.

"Me and Ichigo-kun... Had breakfast together this morning, in the cafe Sora used to take me to... And, we walk through the park on our way back... Um, and..."

"And?" She begun to bare some teeth at the sides of her mouth.

"We... Um... We... Kissed." My face turned bright red as I held back my squeal, realising I was in reality, not a dream. Tatsuki had her teeth bared as her fists formed by her sides.

"I knew you'd seduce him sooner or later, so you's two going to be going round eachother's more often now?"

"Eh! It's not like that Tatsuki-chan! We kissed once or twice but that's it! It's not like we're together!" My face dropped as I realised what I had just said. _'That's right, I turned him down, even after he told me he loved me. Why did I do that? When it came down to the last minute, I realised I wasn't ready for a relationship.' _

"Me and Ichigo-kun are still just friends." Even Tatsuki's face dropped.

"Even after you kissed, you still couldn't tell him?"

"I guess not." She sighed disapprovingly and carried on walking down. _'Tatsuki's usually the last person I'd lie to, but I just don't have the heart to ruin Ichigo-kun's reputation and tell her that I turned him down.'_

**Whatever you do, don't tell me any spelling mistakes! 0.o Mu stupid spell checker only tells you when a word is spelt wrong when you hover over it, so it means I have to go though every single word of every single chapter only to make sure the spellings are correct. Please tell me how I did and any more ideas will be appreciated! Any of those who have read 'The fire of 1000 cherry blossoms, this is in sync with the chapter; Why? It is labelled between after she's destroyed Renji's modified soul and when she begins to question herself as she breaks down in her office. ^_^ You don't really need to read the entire story to understand that chapter so anyone can go read it if they want. The chapter; 'Why?' Thanks for reading and please review!**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	10. Murderous Intentions

**I'm sorry I haven't uploaded for a while. No real excuses, just couldn't think of what to write. My mother told me that this was called a 'writer's block'? Anyway, I have also been writing the opening paragraph/chapter of future stories that have been pounding at my head, I write them so I don't forget them. Anyway, thank you reviewers and please enjoy!**

**As** the placate sun broke through the silence of the night, the chorus of song birds reached my distant mind, but blocked out of my thoughts. Morning to every living creature on the hemisphere brought them alive to another carefree day, at least, to them it was carefree. I stared to the ceiling, resting my tired arms behind my head as my enervated eyes called for dismiss of being awake. I was engrossed in my thoughts, wondering about the past day with Orihime. Her beautiful auburn hair was engraved to my memory, watching it swirl in the wind as she danced along the pavement, the gorgeous grey eyes fixed on my own as she spoke in her sublime voice, whispering in my ear that she did love me in return. My heart burned for me to see her again, my lips craving for another of the shocking kisses I was indulging yesterday on a more than one occasion; part of me didn't want to spend another minute in this bed, just thinking, but to find her again and hold her close. However, nothing is ever perfect. As I remember her luxurious smile, I also remember the sadness held inside it... that evening. As evening grew near, we were once again alone at the training grounds. I watched her grow into a completely different woman, one that could fight, one that never had anything in her way, one that didn't know the meaning of defeat, and I thought that this woman belonged to me. Of course I was wrong. Even if she said she loved me in return, she still wouldn't be with me. I couldn't understand why, was it because of my image? My cold personality towards some people? Or was it that she lied about loving me in order to not make me look so much as a fool. No. Orihime isn't like that. She wouldn't care about image, or lie and she once said that she likes the way I am, so why wouldn't she be with me? I turned to my aching side and stared plainly at the alarm clock: 6:00am. _'Safaia will be waking up now.' _I sighed before turning back, wondering why I was so broken, even though she confessed to me after I told her how I felt. Maybe it was the fact that I did tell her that I loved her, but I'm still not with her... maybe it's because I'm selfish like that. My body told me that, even though dying for it, it wasn't about to go to sleep. I didn't sleep for the entire night, but I didn't care for it at all, my mind was too preoccupied to think about such human natural things. I sat up lazily before checking my room was still the same. Everything was in order. No clothes lied next to my wardrobe, indicating Rukia hadn't snuck in during the night. Aches and pains ran a marathon in my body for various reasons, the only one I listened to was my stomach, wishing for something to devour, leading me to go down the stairs and get breakfast.

**Sleep **just didn't come to me at all, I was too racked with guilt. The thought of Ichigo's wonderful confession on such a perfect day was so heart-warming and amazing, I couldn't believe what I had said. I couldn't believe that I had confessed in return but still rejected him. _'I wasn't thinking straight, but how would Ichigo-kun feel now? He must be so miserable and heart-broken because of me. I still love him, but can I still face him? That's a silly question. I'm sure that he'll still want to see me, maybe it'll all work out today and I could tell him that I want to be with him? I guess I could always try.' _Safaia's hiccups and cries broke into my thoughts, telling me that it was already 6 o'clock. I sighed as my body rested uncomfortably on my shabby mattress, begging for my brain to stop the thoughts and shut down for the night, but still it refused. The only part of me that agreed with my brain was my heart, I needed to think about what I wanted before it became to late to change my mind. I forced my tired legs out of the sung duvet and headed to the tiny tot, caring for her wish of food as the morning rose to her cries. Something felt odd about how the day had begun, I was unsure as to what, but it seemed as if something was missing. I was too tired to think about it much. Her small hiccups made me give a weak smile as she laughed at herself. Carefully, I headed over to the diminutive kitchen for the preparation of the little'len's succulent breakfast, still trying to figure out what was wrong. _'Nothing seemed wrong as I layed in the bed, but when I got up... What is it?' _Safaia played around with her food as I pounded at my brain for the mislaid presence. _'Let's see, I haven't forgotten to do anything for Safaia, or forgotten anything shopping wise. My house is still tidy, apart from Safaia's toys, and everything is still here. What's missing... Tatsuki... Tatsuki-chan! Where's her resiteu!' _I searched everywhere for the familiar presence but nothing returned. I was so used to her feeling that it didn't come to mind straight away that it was missing. Quickly, I ran to my room and picked up the phone, frantically dialling her number.

"Please pick up, Tatsuki-chan!"

_"Orihime..."_

"Tatsuki-chan! Oh thank goodne-"

_"Help... me... Orihime... help..." _The line went dead, leaving my eyes bulged at her words, my heart jumping out of it's cage. My legs took me straight to Safaia, grabbing her and heading straight for the door. I didn't care that I was still in my bedclothes, along with dressing gown and slippers, my best friend was in danger and that's all that mattered. I dialled another number as I pelted down to Tatsuki's house.

"Pick up, pick up, pick UP!"

**My** phone's ringtone challenged the silence of my living room, making my ear drums pound. Still, my eyes wondered over to the caller I.D before picking it up.

"Orihime? Why are you-"

_"Please Ichigo-kun, help, please-"_

"Wait, Orihime, what's happened?" I quickly got up from the sofa and headed to get my coat. It didn't matter what had happened, if Orihime was in trouble in any way...

_"It's Tatsuki-chan, I don't know what's happened but she's in trouble!"_

"Tatsuki?" I realised now that Tatsuki's spiritual energy wasn't present, "Where are you?"

_"I'm running down the high street on my way to her house."_

"Okay, I'm coming." Her teary voice was terrible to hear. The clock didn't change another minute before I had turned the phone off, grabbed my coat and ran out the door.

**"Orihime**!"

"Ichigo-kun. Thank goodness." We stood outside Tatsuki's house, panting and waiting to enter the building. I distraughtly rang the doorbell another few times only to find more silence in the house.

"They're not answering, how are we going to get in?" My eyes travelled over to the front window, searching inside the small living room. I gasped at the disgusting sight of blood around the room, broken objects lying around, as if a explosion had gone off, a huge circle of space roamed in the centre, showing the exact mark of where someone had fallen. _'She fought back.' _I turned back to Orihime, feeling my face pale to what I had seen. Although I had seen much blood in my life, and deaths of many people, I had never experienced such a horrid sight of one of my oldest friends. Orihime reached for the carefully placed plant pot held on the banister and searched around in the soil.

"Here!" She pulled out her dirt covered hand and revealed a tiny silver door key, pushing it into the lock and forcing the door open, "Tatsuki-chan!" We ran inside, her heading for the stairs as I took a closer look in the blood soaked living room. No spiritual pressure seemed to leak in the room except for the missing girl's. Still I searched around, looking for any evidence of what could of happened, keeping my senses alarmed. My gaze turned to the sofa, noticing rips and blood over the, once peach, seating. Carefully, I moved the cushions, only to find part of a foot hanging out of the side of the disastrous furniture. This caused me to stared over the top, finding the second strongest girl in Japan lying helplessly, covered in blood, on the floor.

"Orihime!" I shouted to her, making her fly down the stairs. I ran over to the short-haired girl and held her head in my hand, patting her gently on the cheek. I felt her pulse, finding that she was still alive, but also finding that her entire body was covered in slashes; she was close to dead.

"Tatsuki, hey, Tats!" Her eyes carefully opened slightly.

"Ichigo." She breathed, "Don't let her take it. Don't let her win..." Her eyes closed again.

"Don't let who take what, hey, Tatsuki!" I shook my head and grabbed under her legs, picking her up, "I'm taking her to the clinic." Orihime nodded, following me with Safaia still in her arms. Safaia was surprisingly asleep as we ran out the door, not batting an eye to our speed down the high street to my house. I basically kicked my door down in order to get inside, waking up my family so they could quickly operate on her.

**I **paced the floor and stared into the operating room, awaiting for one of the Kurosaki men to come and tell me that everything was fine. Safaia still layed silently on the chairs, unbeknownst as to what was going on. _'Please be okay, Tatsuki-chan.' _My arm met the cold steel of the observation window's frame as I kept back my darkest thoughts for my best friend. _'I need to be strong.' _Finally, Ichigo begun to make his way over to the door, pushing myself out the way.

"Tatsuki's stable at the moment, so we're going to use this to take her to Ishida's hospital." I nodded in understandability and watched Isshin prepare her for transport and call Ryuken to take her to Karakura's hospital.

"Is she going to be alright?" I turned back to Ichigo, speaking in such a low, almost sentiment-less tone.

"I don't know."

**The** heart monitor beeping continued as I sat patiently by her bed. Uuryu also sat beside me, looking just as worried, almost upset, to be seeing Tatsuki lying unconscious in his hospital.

"There was spiritual pressure held inside her wounds, but it wasn't anything like we had encountered before. Do you know what happened?" He spoke carefully. I shook my head and stated plainly about the call.

"But there is something I found strange," He turned his head slightly towards me as I stared to Tatsuki, "I don't know if it's any importance, but I couldn't feel Tatsuki's pressure missing until after I stepped out of bed, maybe it was then she was attacked."

"What time was that?"

"6am, when Safaia wakes up for her breakfast."

"Well, firstly, judging by her wounds, she was attacked around 3am, it's surprising she managed to stay fighting for that long, and secondly, who's Safaia?" It quickly jumped to me that Uuryu didn't know about the child me and Ichigo had been taking care of for the past three weeks. As if on cue, Ichigo walked back into the blue-cross covered room, holding a sleeping Safaia in his arms.

"That's Safaia, she's my child." His gaze turned from me to the sleeping tot, giving a slightly odd look to both of us.

"S-She's your child?"

"I found her, Ishida-kun." The weird look left his face as he got up and headed over to the other teen.

"May I?" He addressed Ichigo, holding out his arms for the girl.

"Is it odd that she's been asleep for almost five hours now? Did she sleep during the night?" I turned to Uuryu as Ichigo asked the worrisome questions, and handed her over to the raven-haired teen.

"Yes, she slept all night, I was watching her since her cots next to my bed."

"Has she woken up?"

"Only for breakfast. She cried at 6 in the morning, like everyday for her breakfast." My eyes travelled back to Tatsuki, watching the heart monitor and oxygen mask keep her stable. I grabbed her hand, giving it a slight squeeze to let her know I was there. To my pleasure, she squeezed my hand back and begun twisting her head slightly.

"She's waking!" They ran over to us just as her eyes slowly opened once again.

"W-Where am I?" She whispered through the mask.

"Karakura hospital." Uuryu stated, still holding the brown haired girl. Suddenly, Safaia's eyes also opened, finding herself in a stranger's arms in a strange room.

"Mama? Daddy?" She turned to me and Ichigo, then back to a smirking Uuryu.

"Daddy?" He turned to Ichigo, knowing he had something else to annoy him about. Safaia's sapphire eyes looked into Uuryu's blue ones, carefully observing the new arrival. Her hands ran through his hair, pulling it harshly like she did when first meeting Ichigo.

"Tatsuki," I gazed over to her slashed body, "What happened?" I kept hold of her hand, hearing silence as Uuryu and Ichigo joined my side.

"I-I returned home from dropping you back to your apartment, and everything was normal. I found my parents weren't coming home that night so I made my dinner and went to bed. Wh-After a few hours, I heard a noise from downstairs, thinking it was either my parents or a burglar. Obviously, I get too confidant with my skills sometimes and challenged the noise. I headed downstairs, and-and, a figure, a woman, was standing in the passage way. I went to attack, to find out what she was doing there, but she didn't answer my questions. Instead, she grabbed my throat, pulled out a sword and dragged me to the living room." Tatsuki's heart monitor beeped harder as she begun to cry, "I couldn't protect myself, she was too strong, I-I-"

"Shh, Tatsuki-chan." I started to comfort her, sending her heart rate back down, "You've said enough. Except, do you know what the woman looked like?"

"No. I remember how she acted, spoke, and her height being roughly 5"10 but that's it. Also, she used karate. I'm sorry."

"No clothing or scars?" Ichigo asked.

"Nothing but the sword, everything else is just as well as being invisible."

"It's okay Tatsuki-chan, maybe once you've gotten better you'll remember better. Just rest and know that we'll keep you safe." She nodded and smiled to me, steadily closing her eyes once again. _'Even that vivid description reminds me of something...' _

"Orihime?" I turned to Ichigo, "Don't you think this is a little strange?"

"What is?"

"That a woman had attacked Tatsuki, she remembers actions, detail, voices, but not the face?"

"Not really that strange, she was scared."

"Not that, doesn't it feel weird that we had the same experience?" I was clueless to what he was on about, and obviously he got my confused face, "That dream, Orihime, the one when we got attacked by-"

"The woman with no face." I finished with him. _'That's right, I couldn't figure it out why we had the same dream, or why-'_

"It felt too real to ignore." _'Mind reader.' _

"Do you both want to feel me in on all this?" Uuryu cradled Safaia, letting her play with his glasses as he listened to our conversation. Me and Ichigo stared to eachother before nodding. We explained the entire detail of that fight in the anomalous dream.

"This does seem very peculiar. You don't remember anything about the woman's face?"

"Not a thing." The boys sighed as I turned back to the sleeping girl. _'She used karate?' _

"But, what we know of her," I begun, "Is that the attacker's a woman, highly skilled with karate, and a sword, can disguise any spiritual pressure, and is 5"10. As a shadowy figure, I do remember long hair, but no colour."

"Now that you mention it, I remember that too." I tilted my head slightly downwards, making a dark shadow fall over my eyes.

"Why is there only one person that seems to fit that entire description?" I coldly stated, "I don't want to jump to conclusions, but isn't it weird that she turned up as all this begun?"

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked.

"Why does April fit into place of all this?" I turned to him, having anger and fear both held inside. I really liked April, she was sweet, could teach well, but it just didn't seem right. Ichigo seemed to also get my point of view as he focused on all the points we had made, "Is she still in the world of the living?"

"She left yesterday remember. I'm not sure when she's coming back." I really didn't want to believe that she could be responsible for this.

"She met Tatsuki yesterday, when she came for me in the training grounds, just before she went back to soul society."

"Orihime, don't jump to conclusions. Even I don't believe she could be capable for something like this. Anyway, surely they'll be many other people who could be a part of this, maybe someone we don't even know." I still tried to think of the sort of things we had a hold of, but they still only pointed in that direction.

"Orihime," Uuryu called, "You're in shock for what had happened to Tatsuki, you're looking for someone to blame. I feel like I'm not being told everything however, who is April?"

"She's the newest captain in the gotei 13." Ichigo explained.

"So she does definatly know skills with a sword, and?"

"She is 5"10. And she told us that she is an 8th dan at Karate. We don't know her well, but she turned up about three weeks ago. When she first came to the world of the living, she saved Orihime and begun training her."

"If she was a part of this, then why would she save Orihime?"

"She said in the dream;" I took over, "'To revenge on those who put me in that defenceless body, thanks to you, I can make that happen.' We don't know the attacker well enough to know what she could of meant by that, but she needed me in order to mark her revenge." Silence reached into the room, only the machines and Safaia's playing sounds were heard.

"We're missing the reason, and the 'defenceless body' part could of meant." Uuyru once again claimed his glasses and pushed them back on, only for them to be snatched off by the child. A nurse tapped me on the shoulder, grabbing my attention once again.

"I'm sorry, but the patients are now going to have their daily check, I'm afraid that you need to leave." I nodded and got up, giving a last glance to Tatsuki before following the teen boys. _'Who ever is responsible for this will pay.'_

**I know, not 5000 words like I said, but I wasn't far off. I needed someone to blame to be honest, and I didn't really think of it until right at the end that it did sound alot like April, that's why I used it to my advantage ;P Please review for me and I'm not sure when the next chapter will be since I don't know what I'm doing in the next chapter... And also, I have 10 days 'till school restarts *cries* Wish me luck and I promise there is no way I'll give up on this story *crosses heart* and nearer to the end of the middle will be when my chapters will probably become more frequent, maybe even back to daily updates :D See you next time!**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	11. Cherished and demolished

**"Here**, Inoue-san." He handed over the fresh pile of clothes, along with my blue hair pins.

"Thank you, Ishida-kun." My voice was weak as it travelled through my throat, hurting as if each particle held a sword against it. The raven-haired man nodded and slumped down beside me, peering back to the rushing water of the fountain we sat upon outside the hospital. _'I acted too rashly when I realised Tatsuki-chan was in trouble, I forgot to pick up my pins from the bedside table.' _It was so stupid of me to do so, if I had calmed down, even slightly, and thought of what I needed to do, I could of healed her straight away.

"Inoue-san." My grey orbs turned to Ishida, "Don't blame yourself for this. Even if you had healed her, the police are involved in this, they would of seen you and Ichigo standing in a pool of blood. Doing it now would cause a rise in disbelief of how Arisawa-san healed so quickly and would probably end up running tests on her." I turned back down to the pins that rested delicately on the folded clothes.

"I hadn't thought about that." I could feel his saddened gaze resting upon my back, tearing through my darkest emotions, and carefully consoling me without words or touch.

"I-I wanted to get stronger, I wanted to stop my friends from getting hurt, I wanted to protect, my heart was set out for all these things, so why? Why can't I become strong enough to stop this from happening? Why do I have to be so weak?" I gripped my fists tighter, feeling my dried eyes re-moist from more tears that threatened to fall out. Uuryu thought carefully about this, but shook his head without an answer.

"Even I didn't sleep last night, same with Kurosaki, but none of us could of predicted what happened. None of us realised Arisawa-san was in danger." I mentally sighed before getting off the white marble fountain.

"I'm going to go and get dressed." My legs felt as if a tonne of rocks were passing through my veins, beating rapidly resulting of my distress, as I traipsed to the hospital's unsullied bathroom.

**My** pale face reflected back to me through the glossy mirror, giving me a full detail picture of my uneasiness. The hairpins set normally over my bangs as I straightened out the clothes. _'Why am I such a burden to everyone?' _

"Orihime-chan? Are you in here?" I certain blonde haired woman poked her head round the door, "I'm sorry about training yesterday, I didn't mean to go all weird like that." I couldn't face her. If I was correct about her being Tatsuki's attacker, then I wouldn't let her even unsheathe her zanpactou.

"There you are!" She slowly entered and strolled up to me with Safaia in her powerful arms, "I'm really sorry about Tatsuki. There was no reading in soul society to tell us that she was in danger, even her spiritual pressure remained the same." She stood behind me, looking pitifully into the mirror, speaking to my reflection as her hand moved towards my shoulder.

"I reject." My trio formed the shield, removing her hand from coming in contact with my body.

"Orihime, what are you doing?" She tried to smile, but her eyes showed all disbelief and confusion she tried to mask, "Ori-" Our bodies were thrown into the cubicles, shattered glass flying everywhere as the wall broke down. Safaia's screams tore through my anger, bringing me back to what was going on. _'I was about to attack her!' _

"There you are! My, my, aren't you two a couple of beauties?" The white figure glared down on us, a terrifying smirk materialised on his lips. April removed herself from protecting Safaia, tending to her to check for any wounds, before glancing at the attacker, "Anyone who exceeds my own beauty must be punished." He began drawing out his own zanpactou.

"Orihime, quickly, take Safaia and run!" The words that she formed couldn't penetrate through my mind, instead, sounded like murmurs, all I could hear was Safaia, and how scared she was.

"Orihime!" The azure eyed Yumichika mod quickly headed for the shocked woman, punching her back into the corridor of the hospital. Still, she kept Safaia in her arms, carefully placing the baby steadily protected. My unstable legs sprinted to the tenuous girl protecting my baby, quickly forcing my orange light shield between the attacks as I snatched Safaia and placed her somewhere safe, before returning to the battle.

**The **clashing of swords and screams were heard from everywhere as hospitalised people and nurses checked to find the source of the explosion, thankfully unable to see the battle between the spirits. Successful hits were coming from April, giving my hope even more resolve that she would easily defeat the opponent. Even with double strength, Yumichika's mod was still far under April's level. Still his resolve to fight did not falter, but continued to rise within each attack. Again their zanpactou's clashed, this time holding eachother to their own test of strength by holding their heads inches apart.

"Come now, woman. The boss has high interest in you, and would prefer it highly if I brought you back alive." He pushed her back fiercely, taking in her fazed emotions and confusion.

"What the hell do you want with me?" She shouted to his face, leaving her guard open. He shunpo-ed behind her and whispered in her ear, not allowing me to hear his reason, however, her reaction of anger told me that she certainly had something to hide. She pushed herself into a shunpo once again behind him and forced her zanpactou into his back, only slicing the skin a fraction as he fastly dodged the attack. Yumichika's fist hit bullseye on her cheek, sending her shortly back and giving another opening for his katana.

"Santen Kesshun!" My block worked perfectly as it stopped her falling to another death.

"What are you doing, April!" Ichigo joined me, shouting up to the captain, "Why are you giving so many openings?" Her smirk materialised as she wiped a small portion of blood from her lips.

"I'm just testing my opponent. Care to join me, Ichigo, Orihime-san?" The skulled substitute badge was pulled out from Ichigo's pocket, allowing him to reach for zangetsu as I moved his body away before attending, once again, to the small battle.

"Two on one? Now, that's a little unfair isn't it? Both people I'm fighting are captain level, yet you still believe I can defeat you? How complimentary." Yumichika flicked his hair in a graceful manner and held his zanpactou towards his opponents.

"Don't make me laugh, there is no way you could beat either of us." April stated in a serious tonne, "I just want this over with without bringing out my Shikai." Quickly, his smirk changed to anger.

"All of you shinigami are alike. You don't believe your mods can do anything, well you're wrong! Don't look down on me, shinigami!" The mods azure resiteu fired up, leading into a vice-captain's level as Ichigo's scowl formed. Another guest joined me at the ground floor as Ichigo and April stood in the sky, holding his bow with a arrow locked into position of the mod. Suddenly, Yumichika clapped his hands together, creating a sudden sound wave to pass through the noisy atmosphere. Ichigo threw himself into the enemy's range, swinging his zanpactou back.

"Getsuga... Tens-" Yumichika already threw his own body weight to the sword, blocking it before throwing Ichigo into April. Their bodies collided with the wall of the hospital, creating another phony explosion to the spiritual-less humans.

"Tsubaki!" The dark warrior fairy flew into the enemy's vital targets as he focused onto his other prey, but failed to pierce through the mod, but instead be consumed into his body. _'What...!'_

"I see you are confused, girl. Each of us mods have a certain power. Mine is to consume the enemy's strength attack in order to prevent them from using it. The substitute is unable to use his 'getsuga tensho' and you are now unable to use 'Tsubaki' thanks to this power." I was shocked at the simple explanation, now knowing that I was unable to use my only source of attack when he is out of my reach.

"Bako 4; Byakurai!" The lightening bolt headed straight into the target, successfully hitting him and sending him pelting down to the ground, "I see." April shunpo-ed over to his fallen body, "You can absorb strength, meaning that Kido is acceptable as it is not strength, but a resiteu-based attack, am I correct?" Her sweet nature had completely flown away from her, like a demon had replaced the once unimaginable kind woman.

"That just caught me off guard, why don't you try that kido again?" She stood emotionlessly opposite the mod, all mercy forgotten from her mind.

"Bako 1; Sho." His body rolled backwards, back onto the ground from the simple kido spell, "Unable to even absorb the weakest kido, I think I am correct." Another of the lightening bolts were thrown without even a spell called.

"You've only gotten enough energy to absorb strength. I guess this means that I'm the better option to fight insted of Kurosaki." Uuryu pulled back the string and aimed at the enemy, hitting him in his abdomen as he stood. April looked back to us two. _'What's with her eyes?' _They burned red with flames, but showed the impression of life-long sadness instead of anger. _'My body feels cold, just looking in her eyes sends chills all over, it makes me feel so sad just to see her like this. But why...?' _Coughing brought our attention to the white skinned mod as Ichigo landed beside me, zangetsu already back away. He stood back up, anger pouring out of him as he rushed towards April's unfazed body. Uuryu used his hirenkyaku to jump infront of the cold captain, and shot his arrow into the opponent's skull. Finally, the mod fell, shimmering into a small red candy piece. She picked up the item, breaking it between her finger and thumb.

**April's **eyes returned to normal as she glanced to the glazing patients of the hospital.

"This is going to cost me, isn't it? Bye pay-check..." Her hand reached for a poky item inside her captain's sleeve, revealing it to be some sort of pen.

"Well, we better sort this out then." She quickly clicked the pen, resulting to a huge explosion of memory replacing gas. Orihime, me and Uuryu all wheezed our way out of the toxic, standing back over to the young shinigami.

"Are you the newest 3rd squad captain Kurosaki and Inoue-san informed me about earlier?" Ishida asked in his normal neutral tonne.

"I don't know about them informing you but yes, I am April Ukitake, captain of 3rd squad. And you are?"

"Ishida Uuryu."

"Ishida? You are the quincy?"

"I'm honoured you have been informed of me too." Their conversation continued as Orihime and Safaia headed towards me. The sunlight shone through both of their eyes, like I was staring at stars that had fallen and born again inside their beautiful souls. Even after another battle, she still held that smile. The only smile in the world that could bring out anyone who was in such despair, back to their pure happiness. All memories of what had happened yesterday just left me with each step she took in my direction, every sad emotion I had felt washed away quickly as I took in her radiant beauty. But, was there something different about her? I searched around for what could of been so different.

"Orihime-san?"

"Yes, Ichigo-kun?"

"Wasn't you wearing your hairpins during the fight? Where are they now?" Her smile turned downwards as she used her free hand to travel down her glorious locks. She became more frantic in searching around for them after each time her hair failed to return them. Pockets were searched, even inside her tight blue jumper, but still they were not there.

"Wher- I had them on- Sure I did- Where are they?" Her mumbling turned to fear as they were nowhere to be seen. Her grey orbs turned to the floor, pacing over where she had just walked, I begun to help.

"Hey, Ishida, April, have you got Orihime's pins?"

"Why would we have them, Kurosaki?" Ishida spat back to me.

"Well can you at least help us find them?" They're eyes widened slightly when they realised why I asked, finally understanding the danger of what could happen to Orihime if we couldn't find them. After 10 heart-stopping minutes, a small glimmer caught my attention by the large fountain, and as I reached for them, I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Orihime." Her eyes shone with hope as I turned, clutching the blue pins in my hands, only for her eyes to turn to shock. In my hand rested two hairpins, detached from the twelve tiny petals. Only two of the petals were attached to the pin, only Shun'o was left. I placed the broken hairpins into her intricate palms, her eyes glued onto them, as if trying to figure out if this was real or not.

"S-Shun'o-san?" The small female fairy-like creature rose up in her hand, lying down and rubbing her tiny head, "Shun'o-san, what happened?" I didn't want to watch Orihime in such a state of shock, but I couldn't show any uneasiness infront of her, or Ishida, and also needed to know myself what happened in order to protect Orihime from whatever it was.

"I-I can't remember. All I remember is Tsubaki flying off, and someone reaching out for us."

"Can you remember the face?"

"No, I'..m...sorry." The blonde fairy quickly fell unconscious before returning to the pin. Orihime's fingers closed over the pins gently, cuddling them into her chest.

"What do I do? My Shun Shun Rikka is... What do I do?" I carefully placed an arm around her feeble body, then the other one and pulled her into my chest.

"We'll find a way to fix them, don't worry." My hand threaded through her silky hair as she lent further into my body, "I'll protect you, Orihime."

_**'Tatsuki **__has been attacked, my Shun Shun Rikka next, and now...!' _I ran down the cursive path as the midnight rain continued to hit the ground barbarously, catching my pale face and crushed my sickly stomach. _'Three attacks in a day...' _I felt the resiteu of Ichigo towards my direction, instantly knowing that what I was about to see was going to be horrendous. _'Why you too?...'_ I could see his orange locks in the distance, bringing more butterflies inside me to arise. My pace quickened to a sprint towards the bloodied alleyway, creating more terrible tension to my throat. Finally, I found them.

_My phone buzzing brought me back to the dark night, unable to allow me to sleep. Before picking up the disturbing object, I took a quick glance to Safaia, finding that she was still asleep peacefully. My tired hand reached for the technological item and placed it on my ear._

_"Hello...?" I whispered sleepily, even though I hadn't fallen asleep that night._

_**"Orihime-san, it's happened again!"**_

_"What's happened?"_

_**"Another attack!"**__ My body shot up instantly, fully awake and recovered from my fatigue as my heart pumped virosiously against my closing chest._

_"Who? Who was attacked?"_

Ichigo's hands rested on the ghastly wound across his chest, trying to stop the bleeding but failing. Both of his hands were almost torn off of his wrists as he lied unconscious on the blood-soaked ground. _'Another attack...' _I peered to his closed eyes, wishing that all of this was just a really bad nightmare. _'Another I couldn't protect. I'm sorry...' _I helped Ichigo to quickly pull him off the ground and headed straight to Karakura's hospital, _'Ishida-kun.'_

**Wellzeez, I'm sorry I haven't uploaded, I'm having major brain-dead situations. Instead of thinking for the next chapter of this, my head keeps making up new stories! I now have... 7? I think 7 new stories to write for future purposes. Anyway, thanks for reading, I didn't put an A/N at the top because I wanted you to read about why Orihime hadn't healed Tatsuki at the time... *_I knew I fricken' forgot to put that stupid paragraph in!_* It was accidental though. Please reveiw for me and I'll see you next chapter... if I can think of one... Oh yeah, I read all the bleach manga's in 3 days ^_^ I can not wait for the next 1! Orihime's gotten even prettier, and Tatsuki! But seeing Uuryu... *nosebleed*! I really recommend the manga's btw.**

** Oh no! SCHOOL TOMORROW! :'( Bye 6 weeks holiday. Hello chapter-thinking-instead-of-listening-to-teachers! :P Na I kid, I'm pretty smart tbh I just cbb to learn how to spell.**

**Oh one thing; Nypsy: I didn't know why spell checker changed my word from placid (I write that for warm) to placate. Thanks for this but you'll probably find even more in the story since it's the first time I'm using a thesaurus seriously -_-. Thanks anywayz!**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	12. Standing alone

**Hi! Sorry it's been a while, I was busy with school's beginning. I only managed to do this chapter since I'm also ill at the moment -_-. Please enjoy, and thank you to my reviewers! Oh, and this chapter is a day after 'Capture' in The fire of 1000 cherry blossoms. - I'm a gonna start calling that 'TFO', I didn't realise at first how annoying it is to keep writing that. Some bits may be bad because, like I said, I'm ill so I can't write as well when I can't focus properly.**

**TheCatWithTheHat; I just had to read your review at 3am didn't I? -_- XD here you go, new chapter. Now please get my second worst bleach character away from me! Lol thanks for reviewing though.**

**Nypsy; April's POV is not in this story by the way. When it's in italics, it's a memory or a past conversation, not a new POV. I used bold on new paragraphs, which is either a new POV or a change in the timeline. Sorry if I had confused you. Also, virosiously is what I was meant to write, it's not a typo. Thanks anyway ^_-**

**Abby; Thanks ^_^ I'm so glad you're here and enjoying the story.**

**The** considerably large building towered over the heads of the young children that stood playfully inside, staring at the mountains of toys that outnumbered them all. The many colours begun to hurt my empty eyes but had no effect on the simple minded toddlers. All around the walls jumped the cartoon dolphins, minding the children as they stuck the non-hazardous objects into their tiny mouths before laughing happily in the group. Happy faces could be seen everywhere you looked, none of them worrying about their lives before them, none of the knowing what bad things life could throw at you. All I could think about in these smiley were the horrors that remained in my life, the dreadful event that happened last night.

_'Another attack...' I peered to his closed eyes, wishing that all of this was just a really bad nightmare. 'Another I couldn't protect. I'm sorry...' I helped Ichigo to quickly pull him off the ground and headed straight to Karakura's hospital, 'Ishida-kun.' _

"Excuse me, Miss. Inoue?" I turned to the chubby woman opposite me behind the desk as she finally succeeded to regain my weary attention, "Ah, there you are." The smiley old lady begun to fiddle with her paperwork that draped over the messy desk, "Well, all your papers check, Miss, Inoue, so I'm happy to accept your child to Karakura nursery." She pulled her silver framed glasses off, letting them hang loosely around her wrinkly neck.

"Thank you, Mrs. Anini. When can she start?" My gaze turned to the playful girl, keeping my fake smile as she cuddled her toy bunny and 'baby' conversed with a long blonde haired little girl.

"Next Monday. However," I looked glumly over to her, "It seems that your school hours are much longer than what Safaia's would be, have you got anyone who can take care of her once she's finished?"

"Yes, I have a child minder."

"Okay, can I please have his name?"

"Kurosaki Isshin." My mind played back to the elfin memory of when I asked the senior Kurosaki to babysit. No matter how much I tried to convince Ichigo that I didn't want to burden them further, they both insisted that I wasn't a burden and that they'll be happy to take care of her when I couldn't.

"Thank you, Miss. Inoue, that's all. I'll see you both Monday."

"Thank you." I got out of the uncomfortable plastic chair, grabbing Safaia and letting her wave goodbye to her new playmate before heading to the bright yellow door. She squirmed slightly in order to become comfortable in my aching arms, continuing to play sweetly with her floppy ear rabbit. The basking sun didn't lighten my mood the slightest, nor did the singing birds caressing the cloudless blue sky. I trudged along tiredly down the busy high-street; I hadn't slept peacefully for the past few terrifying nights, constantly dealing with so many problems. One now being that I was defenceless, and that I couldn't heal any more. It burned my heart deeply to know that the last gift from my wonderful big brother was destroyed. _'Now I can't continue my training, and I'm going to be a burden to Ichigo-kun once again. Without me or Ishida-kun to fight hollows, Sado-kun in Mexico, and all the the shinigami in soul society, only Ichigo-kun can still protect the town. I shouldn't of been so careless! I should of protected everyone like Ichigo-kun does. I'm so stupid! I don't deserve to be with Ichigo-kun, I'll only bring him down.' _Tears threatened to spill as I mentally broke myself down. Before I realised it, I was standing on the stairs outside my apartment door, staring absent-mindedly into the concrete abyss.

"Orihime-san." I was taken out of my dark thoughts as I faced a pair of beautiful brown eyes before me.

"Ichigo-kun, is something wrong?" His eyebrows furrowed upwards as a saddened gaze filled his eyes and bestow on his desirable lips.

"Soul society had called for me, I'm needed urgently by the captain commander, but I'm not sure why. I was on my way to Urahara-san to send me there, but I thought I had better talk to you first." He took a couple of steps towards me, letting me get off the stairs to his level, "Will you be fine without me? I mean, without your pins-" I placed my warm fingers onto his lips gently to quiet him.

"I'll be fine, I promise. I'll keep everything safe and inform you if there's any change to Tatsuki-chan or Ishida-kun." I placed my biggest fake smile on, "I'm pretty strong too, I can still find a way to destroy hollows."

"Please, Orihime, don't act like everything's alright." My eyes grew wide as I realised that he could see straight through my lies, "I'm sure you'll do fine, but I just needed to hear you say it." A real small smile grazed on my lips as well as a faint blush on my cheeks. He ruffled Safaia's hair carefully to make her giggle, letting a slight smile reach onto his face too, obviously liking the father figure he has become to her. I wrapped my arms delicately around his waist, letting his wonderful smell of honey travel though my nose. Just holding Ichigo so close made my worries disappear.

"I'm counting on you." He whispered as his own arms wrapped around my shoulders and around Safaia. We were like a family, and that wasn't about to change for the world. I really didn't want his muscular arms to let me go, or his chin to stop resting on my hurting head, but I knew from the urgency of his message that he needed to go.

"How long will you be gone for?" This would be the first time for a month since Ichigo had left my side, I realised that I would be terribly lonely without his presence around me, lovingly keeping me warm and secure.

"I'm not sure, but I promise I'll return as quick as I can." I felt his lips kiss the top of my head before letting his arms drop slowly. Still I kept my hands on his back tightly. I had such a horrible day today, I just needed someone I loved to console me. A huge hand reached for under my chin, pulling it upwards towards Ichigo's caring face. A quick kiss was planted on my lips before I finally let go.

"Goodbye."

"Bye, Ichigo-kun." He gently pushed himself passed and headed down the stairs. I heard his footsteps grow quiet as he left the edifice. _'Why do I feel like something he's leaving me forever? It'll only be for a short while... right? Anyway, I need to keep an eye out for hollows, not sit in depression and worrying. Ichigo-kun is counting on me to keep Karakura safe.' _I begun to build myself up once again, draining away the thoughts that kept me up at night and drove me to insanity. I willed myself to no longer feel the hurtful fatigue, but to be the original, hard-headed girl I had alwaysed been. _'What am I doing? I shouldn't be like this, I'm sure Tatsuki-chan wouldn't like me being depressed.' _I put my fist infront of my face, holding it up in determination. _'I will prove that I'm strong. Even without my Shun shun rikka, I can still protect, I can still fight!' _My fist grabbed the icy air around my before punched above my head.

"I'll prove I don't need to be protected any more, you'll see Ichigo-kun, Tatsuki-chan, Ishida-kun, I can protect you in return for what you have done for me." Safaia giggled and clapped her hands, witnessing my vow. For the first time that day, I felt reassured, energised, like the real Orihime I was. No longer did I have a need to sleeping or breaking myself down, I was ready. I knew I needed to continue my training, but this time, I was going to push myself further. I dropped my fist and reached for my keys, unlocking the door to start the day again.

**"Can **I please see Uuryu Ishida-kun?" I smiled warmly to the male receptionist, eagerly waiting to see the raven-haired quincy. Tatsuki was being visited by her parents, so I didn't want to intrude them, or be bombarded with questions as they spoke to their tomboy daughter.

"I'm sorry but, under Ryuken Ishida's orders, no-one is allowed to visit Uuryu Ishida. We haven't been told the reason as to why." The almond-eyed teenager replied.

"Oh, okay, thank you. I'll return tomorrow." I turned to leave the hospital.

"Wait!" My eyes diverted back to the receptionist, wondering what could of caused an outburst like that. He got up from the chair and walked to beside me, his tiny pupils eyeing my body hungrily, "How would you feel about going on a date with me?" He gave out a wide grin, posing himself with a high thumb pointing towards himself.

"I'm sorry, but I don't go on dates with strangers." I kept my smile but inside, I was hoping he would leave me be straight away. Of course, just like the rest of the guys who asked me out, he carried on trying. He blinked a couple of times before grabbing my hand in plea.

"No? Don't you know who I am? I'm Akihiko Dyuugeni! The most popular, and sexiest man in this area of town! To know that you had been asked out by myself, you would instantly become the most envious girl around. Such a beautiful young lady such as yourself to be with such a handsome man like me, we'd be a perfect match." His lips touched my hand delicately, causing me to pull it swiftly away.

"I'm sorry, but I- I'm already with someone else." His bulky arm wrapped itself around my shoulders causing me to feel quite claustrophobic next to this strange man.

"Well dump him and be with me. No-one is close to my beauty." With a wink and a quick stare at my breasts, I finally begun to retaliate against him. I grabbed his arm and threw him over onto the floor, keeping his arm locked in place. I was alwaysed against using violence but I couldn't escape his unfalty grip without a little of it.

"I'm sorry, Dyuugeni-san, but I love him, no matter how he looks." I let go of his arm and pushed it down, allowing him to get up from his place on the ground. Again, I turned to the exit, keeping my destination in my mind instead of turning back to the midnight-haired immature teenager. _'As soon as Ichigo-kun left, I got another admirer.'_

**The **young child's breathing stayed in rhythm as I placed her in her verdigris cot, blissfully rocking her as my exhausted voice sung her a lullaby. No matter how tired I got, seeing my little girl sleep to enter her peaceful wonderland of dreams brought a loving smile to my enervated face. The moon's shine flew straight through the window to her endearing closed eyes, giving off the warm glow of her small resiteu that she held. As her long eyelashes twitched slightly to her dreams, her petite fingers loosened off of mine to let me fall to my own dilapidated bed to finally endure the tremendous siesta my body craved for. For the first time in days, my eyelids fell to the serene night, hoping that I could have a decent rest to keep me enthusiastic and energetic to keep the loving town of Karakura safe for Ichigo. My life began to fall into a deep slumber as the softness of my opulent pillow rested against my weary head.

**The** night's heart beat let me rest once again, bringing me to the brig of satisfaction, until the dreadful feeling I had grown a custom to woke me. My sixth sence had triggered, waking me up to the real world's grim reality. I didn't have time to worry about sleeping, I could feel the hollow's presence near. My waking hand reached for my bedside table, onto to collide with the hard wood material it was made from. _'My hairpins...' _Quickly, I shook my head awake and jumped out, ready for my first fight without them. For the occasions were I needed to fight during the night, I had kept a pair of baggy jeans and a pull-over jumper to wear and give me enough room to keep my flexibility. I threw on the 'just in case' clothes and headed out the door.

**A **loud cry of the hollow's broken heart pierced my ears as I ran to it's direction. _'This time, I can't be saved. This time I won't be helpless.' _My legs gave an impulsive sprint around the corner to the block that turned opposite my road, preparing myself to be faced with the hideous monster that threatened us. _'Even with my last breath,' _The humongous beetle-like skull stared straight at my unfazed body as I stood tall against it. _'I'll fight!' _Such a weak hollow like this one would be killed effortlessly with my Shun shun rikka, but I didn't have them to rely on. My mental self had gotten stronger through April's training, my self-esteem better with being with Ichigo, my will to fight as Safaia had come into my life. _'At least, with a weak hollow, I can assess my own power.' _

"Well, little girl," It's voice was rasp as it spoke to me, "Your spiritual pressure is quite divine, and pretty powerful too. Wouldn't it just be grand to have a better taste of it?" The hollow laughed mercilessly, grinning with it's bare teeth. Quickly, it sprinted towards me, leaving me helpless to try and run, but running didn't even cross my mind. I stood my ground, awaiting it's fierce attack, with determination and pride helping me stand strong. A few feet stood between it's attack and me, giving me a only seconds to decide my counter attack and defence. In a matter of milli-seconds, I poured my spiritual pressure to my feet, using my 'failed' shunpo technique to jump above the hollow's horrendous head, forcing my fist down to the skull of it's mask. To my dismay, no affect seemed to happen to my punch, but it was expected for such a weak attack. The hollow's screeching laugh filled me with rage, knowing that I needed to use more strength that I knew I had. As I was only human, my limits were obvious, no matter how much stamina or strength I could endure.

"What was that? It felt like a tiny fly had just landed on my neck! You really think you could beat me when you're so weak?" It's laughing continued as it's tail pushed to the sky, hitting me on the stomach and sending me into the rubbish bags on the ground. The disgusting smell of rotten chicken collapsed onto my clothes, putting me slightly off but teaching me how to ignore my surroundings in a battle. I swiftly rolled away from another hit from the falling spiked tail, edging from my death as I got to my feet. _'The tail seems like the source of it's strength.' _I was aimed again, and once again, I jumped away from the collision before observing the massive shooting crater the fallen soul made.

"Are you only good at running you impudent human?" I kept jumping and dodging as I looked for my solution to victory, trying to swerve away from the homes of many innocent people. _'I'll never kill it with only my fists, that's Sado-kun's power, not mine.' _I grew my own scowl as I raked my brain for an answer. Suddenly, I was thrown into more black tins filled with the sickening decomposing food and other thrashing objects, but the bins gave me an advantage. I found my answer as a silver light reflected in the corner of my eye.

"Come now, be a good girl and show me where you're hiding!" To the cue, I lifted myself from the black metal background into full view of the hatred hollow, holding the object behind my leg. The cursive grin reapplied on it's pale skull as it turned to my spot. A tongue poked through to lip it's non-existent lips as it galloped over to me. I aimed my object for the centre of the skull's forehead. _'This is my only chance.'_ Another roar came from the demon, giving me a signal to my arm to throw it. It's cold steel reached it's target, piercing through the mountain-snow coloured bone, only showing the knife's handle sticking out.

"Argh! You bit-" I appeared before the monster's eyes, flipping over and kicking the blade down, slicing through the remains of it's skull and face. I watched it disintegrate before me, dropping the bloodied knife in the street. _'I... did it... I did it!' _A huge smile plastered onto my face as I was re-energised and felt ecstatic for myself. _'And I shunpo-ed! Alright!' _My fist was punched into the air before dropped back down to my shoulder.

"I guess I can do this after all. You'll see, Ichigo-kun, I'm not the defenceless burden I used to be any more, I will fight with you, not be the reason you're fighting." I begun to skip home as the sun's golden glow passed over the horizon.

**Yes, I killed a hollow with a knife, got a problem with that? My story, I can do whatever I want ;]. The only reason I put that guy... um... Akihiko Dyuugeni in there is for one reason; Remember how I couldn't think of a small story to quicken the pace of TFO? Well there you go! I don't know if I will use him definatly, but it'll give me a template to something if I need to. Please review for me and I'll try to write the next chapter quicker. ^_^**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	13. Missing pieces

**Sorry it's been a while but I've been really busy with coursework and stuff. Thanks to my lovely reviewers and on with the story!**

**TheCatWithTheHat; Kon O_o his pervy ways creep me out...**

**Nypsy; Virosiously... I may have spelt it wrong but it's just another word for vigorously :) hope this helps!**

_**Those **__tears. The tears of pain. Tears of anger. Tears of fear. They all flooded out of the man before me as he held his deathly sword a whisper away from my neck, begging for his unwilling body to stop the madness. I stood against him in agony, feeling the oozing trickle of blood pour slowly down my aching limbs with one eye closed. Anguish, pain, agony... only my body felt this as a physical torcher, my heart feeling the same mentally as I stared wonderingly into his deep brown eyes. Those deep eyes that onced looked at me with love only to blind me with his own pain. I knew it wasn't his fault, I knew he felt the same way as I did. Ice cold steel sliced through me, cutting away the last of my breath along with my last grip I had on my life. But even as I fell backwards, as if in slow motion, onto the blood stained carpet, all I could think about was what I had achieved for the while we had spent together, everything I had been through in my brief life._

_"I'm sorry..." He whispered at my falling body, still trying to fight against whatever kept control of his anguished body. Still my eye stayed open, my hair passing gently over my dieing face. A smile crept quietly onto my busted lips. 'No, thank you...' The last moment of life past, seeing the zanpactou's hilt crush onto my forehead for a last hope of keeping me alive..._

**I **gently opened my eyes to the lightened room, still feeling the pain of that horrid dream I had witnessed. For so many restless nights I had seen bits of, what hopefully wouldn't be, my crying future. Death and pain, torcher and hurt, would this really be all that was in store for me? I lifted my boiling body off of the shabby sofa, wondering why after such a putrid dream I felt... somewhat happy? Like, relief or forgiveness even though there was nothing to be forgiven for. A mighty stretch found it's way over my appendages as I checked around my familiar, yet unfamiliar surroundings. _'My living room...' _There was no reason to confirm myself but... oh well. My gaze wondered over to the small technoligcal piece on my coffee table. _'12:13. And a text.' _I yawned slightly before picking up the phone. I briefly watched the tiny heart charm hanging off the edge, smiling to myself, before reading the message.

**'Orihime-san, I need to speak with you, please come to my shop as soon as you see this message and bring Safaia along with you. - Urahara.' **_'Urahara-san? How did he get my number?' _I noticed the little bar at the side and scrolled down;

**'P.S. If you are wondering how I got your number, it is because I know everything ;)' **I couldn't help but laugh slightly, his childish nature was indeed a wonderful trait of Urahara's, even though he is smarter than we could ever imagion. With a quick rush to the bathroom, a brush of my hair, clean clothes and checking Safaia's needs as she played quietly, I was ready for the door.

"Where are we going, mama?" Safaia questioned, quite formally.

"We're going to see uncle Urahara." I smiled to her, grabbing my essentails and putting her in the pram. She smiled warmly and carried on bouncing her bunny.

**"I'm **glad you've shown, what I'm about to tell you is quite important." I didn't like his serious look one bit, his cold tone sent a trail of shivers down my spine, yet I dared not to give any signs of fear away to him, in other fear he might think I wasn't up for anything that could put my life in jepredy.

"Ryuken had generously sent me some of the results of the spiritual pressure inside the wounds of Tatsuki-san and Ishida-san, in hope that we might of had anything on record."

"And did you?"

"Yes, only one match, fortunatly. However, unfortunatly, the spiritual pressure belonged to a zanpactou, meaning there would be no way of tracking it down. And also, the owner of the zanpactou lived three hundred years ago, with no record of the weilder." Both of our heads tipped down to the pale floor. Once again, we were set at a dead end.

"Another thing," He continued after what seemed like forever, "I heard you suspected April, correct?" My heart jumped slightly at his truthful claim, but I also felt a sigh of guilt as I knew that April and Urahara had been friends for quite some time.

"It just seemed stranged how everything happened as she arrived." I answered without looking directly towards his saddened face.

"Like I said, this zanpactou's record is from three hundred years ago, April wasn't even born, let alone a shinigami when this person commited these crimes."

"Crimes?" My ears picked up at that word alone, he mentioned that it was on record, but what type of record was he talking about?

"The same kind of attacks were found on many shinigami, but most of them had died through the severity. Judging by the wounds from now compared to the pictures we have on the other ones, I'd say that, whoever is doing this, hasn't got even a fraction of their power at the moment."

"Not... even a... fraction."

_Tatsuki's heart monitar beeped harder as she begun to cry, "I couldn't protect myself, she was too strong, I-I-"_

"Not even a fraction of their power, yet they still almost killed Tatsuki-chan and Ishida-kun?" My heart fled, I was more outraged than afraid.

"I'm sorry, Orihime-san, but it seems that they are lucky to be alive." Another awkward silence passed over our atmosphere for more hour-like minutes.

"Why did you want me to bring Safaia?" Kisuke slowly tilted his hat so only one darkened eye could be seen underneath the shadow.

"You and Ichigo-san had both also been attacked, but only mentally by those dreams you saw. If I'm not mistaken, I'd say that you both are the main targets for this maniac, but Safaia also has spiritual pressure, so she may be a target for these attacks, even though she's only young." My hand instently went around my baby's head as she clutched tightly onto my silk top, as if knowing that something dreadful was wrong.

"I just wanted to give you a few things to keep you both protected further. When Sado-chan returns, I will also inform him on everything and keep him safe. That is if safe is possible."

"Okay, Urahara-san, thank you." Quickly his trademark smile returned, as well as his fan.

"You're welcome, Orihime-san. And don't worry, everything will be fine!" I couldn't bring myself for a full hearted smile at his sudden change, but insted grabbed the gear and turned to leave.

**Careful** trickles of rain passed down frosty window my head layed lazily on. _'When are you coming back, Ichigo-kun?' _Only a day had passed since he told me of his urgent call, yet I missed his pressure, his presence, but mainly, I missed his warm hugs. _'Something doesn't feel right, the amount of hollows have instently reduced to almost none, as well as no-one from soul society has came. What's happening...?' _I brought my delicate hand up to my face, observing the small pieces of pins that lyed gently in the pink palm.

"Shun'o-san?" My tiny pin fairy rose up from the last remaining pin, keeping her wonderful smile plastered on.

"You called for me, mistress?" She stood onto her shakey legs, stretching her arms out and beating her wings to keep her balance.

"Are you fully recovered?" I kept a small smile myself as I sat her on the windowledge. Just like my own actions, she brought her tiny fist to her face, clutching it tightly in determination and standing tall.

"Yes! I am well and ready." My smile grew slightly as she placed her hands on her hip.

"Good." A sickly feeling came to my stomach as I turned to the others, "And how are everyone else doing?" The blonde girl turned to them, keeping her gentle smile and tender eyes.

"They're doing well too. The severiaty of the attack wasn't as bad as Tatsuki-san's or Ishida-san's, so I can help heal them but it will still be a while before they can recover completely." Her smile dropped to a saddened gaze, "I've never needed to heal on my own before. I'm so used to healing with Amaye that my powers are only half of what we would be together." Suddenly, her petite face lit up once again, "But, at least once she's healed we can heal the rest quicker." I closed my eyes and smiled to the enthusiastic fairy.

"Yeah. Thank you, Shun'o." With a quick nod she once again disappered to the exposed pin. Looking back on them, I could tell through little pieces that one of them had almost been reattached, judging by what Shun'o had said, I figured it must of been Amaye.

"Mama." My grey eyes wondered over to the smiley child, "Play with me, Mama." She held out her colourful xylophone and rainbow teddys and sparkled with happiness.

"Sure sweetheart." I got up and stretched, slowly forgetting the bad mood I was left in. _'All of the gizmos that Urahara-san gave me are put up, Shun'o has recovered, less hollows have shown up and Safaia is safe and smiling, things are not so bad as I make them out.' _Quickly, a familier ringtone struck my ears, making me reach to the phone in my jeans. Flipping it open, I checked the text;

**Just wanted to let you know that I will be back on Saturday. C u then xx**

The short text brightened my mood greatly, making me feel warm as I focused on the kiss marks on the end. I was greatful that Ichigo wasn't around to see my blushes. _'Ichigo-kun.' _I grinned enormasly and held the phone against my heart._ 'I'll be waiting.'_

**Sorry I couldn't go over it but I have to rush to Karate 0_0 Please reveiw I will make sure to have next chapter up by half term (2 weeks from now) Thanks for reading bye!**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	14. A new day a new plan

**HI AGAIN! Sorry about the slow updates but I've finally decided on something to do, I just don't have the details yet. :) Thanking you to my wonderfully wonderful reviewers and I hope this chapter is up to your standers. I'm going to try and do my best to make weekly updates now since daily is obviously going to be too difficult now I've started GCSE O_O.**

**Nypsy; You're going to ruin the story for yourself soon! XD That is what I planned on doing later on in the story. I don't want to do it soon because I want Orihime to stay alone for now to build her resolve and self-esteem but they were going to show up at one point.**

**"Hurry **mama, hurry!" The sweet young girl galloped down the street, laughing under the bright morning sun as she danced along, eager to enter her first day of school. I could see my own zealousness held inside my child, with that little spark of joy; it made me smile. Quietly, I sneaked up to the tiny fawn skinned girl... reaching my arms out as silent as a mouse... and grabbing her stomach, making her scream with shock and delight. I laughed along with her, carefree and feeling energetic. Her little laughs made her cheeks turn a wonderful shade of scarlet, one that could have made tough men cradle her over her cuteness. We rubbed noses before I placed her on my athletic shoulders, checking precautions to see if anyone was lurking around, before using my newly found shunpo to jump to the nearest sturdy roof. She clapped amusingly as I continued jumping, holding onto her legs tightly along with her elbows resting above my ears. For some reason, it took me back to when Ichigo had carried me down from the tower in Hueco Mando, how I loved that he was so level-headed about it, yet I was blushing to bits. _'Would have been nice if he carried me in a bridal position...' _My own little squeal was forced back as I could see the picture in my mind. _'And since his bankai is black, while my dress was white...' _I was forced into my own brilliant fantasy world as I moved, changing it from the time he saved me to when he was being so fatherly to Safaia... and caring for me like a wonderful husband. Suddenly, Safaia screamed and whacked my head fiercely.

"Oww! Safaia, that hurts!" I pouted to her, but her own angry pout faced me as I stopped.

"Bad mama! Wake up, nursewy is passed!" _'Nursery is passed? Nursery...passed... oh, whoops." _

"Oh. Sorry, sweetheart." I laughed before jumping slowly back. _'One day everything'll work out, even if I have to force it to happen!' _I couldn't help but grin at the thought of me and Ichigo being together. _'That's it! I'll have to find a way to get Ichigo-kun and me together!' _I jumped back down onto the unoccupied street and placed a delicate hand to my chin. _'But will he want to be with me after I turned him down? Well, I might as well try and find out.' _I giggled as I absent-mindedly begun to skip joyfully towards the crowded building. Tiny children roamed around the colourful playground, some chasing one another, others playing on the tunnels and slides, and some keeping grip on their mothers and hiding away from the other students. Safaia seemed she couldn't wait to leave me on my own, almost toppling over as we entered through the metal turquoise gate towards the bright yellow doors. The alice blue building only had one floor, but still the size of a considerably large bungalow. Casement windows with tainted ecru frames surrounded the property, bringing pure sunlight to the children who rambled inside. Although the colours of the establishment were very flashy, the toddlers seemed to truly enjoy it all. Personally, I found the place absolutely adorable. I grabbed Safaia's silken hand before she had time to wonder off, and headed inside.

"Oh! Miss. Inoue, a pleasure to see you again." A timely chubby woman headed towards me, waving her hand to catch my attention.

"Hello, Ms. Anini." I smiled to the gentle lady as her wrinkly smile welcomed me.

"Good mowin Ms. Anni!" Safaia greeting with a toothy grin.

"Why, hello Safaia-kun," She placed her hands onto her knees and leaned over to the enthusiastic kid, "Are you looking forward to your first day at school?"

"Yes!" Safaia used her free hand to punch the air above her, giggling fondly at her excitement.

"Go on then, darling, I'll see you when you finish." I let go of her miniature hand hesitatedly, wondering if I would be able to keep myself from fretting over her safety. As soon as she felt that sign of freedom, she pelted down the room to the slew of rainbow toys, sitting next to the little blonde-haired child she met a couple of days ago. Suddenly, her face turned backwards to me, giving off the biggest, purest smile such a tiny tot could master and waving back.

"Bye bye, mama!" Her hands wrapped around her body and squeezed, giving me a pretend hug for me to return. Copying her actions, she chortled and turned back to playing. I said my goodbyes to Ms. Anini and headed out the eyesore door. _'I shouldn't worry; Ms. Anini will keep her, and the others safe, as well as the other teachers and part-time students that work here. Everything will be fine; it's natural for a mother to worry.' _Even through my worrying and thoughts, I kept my head high, looking forward to a new day.

**The **black-haired karate champ chuckled at my plan, shaking her head as if wondering where my bizarre imagination had come from.

"You really think you could do something like that?" She questioned, still shaking her bruised head. I nodded ferociously, keeping a tainted blush on my cheeks as I thought about my well-thought-out plan, "I don't see why you can't just seduce him. Even a prude like Ichigo wouldn't stand a chance against you." The tainted red became full blown scarlet as I gasped.

"Tatsuki-chan! Don't be mean! I couldn't seduce Ichigo, even if I want to!" I pouted childishly and crossed my arms over my busty chest.

"Oh so you DO want to seduce him?" Her devishly cruel smile formed as her brilliant brown orbs squinted.

"N...No! Of course not, Tatsuki-chan! How could you say stuff like that?" _'Of course I don't want to seduce him! We're not even together let alone... oh god!' _My hands covered my bright red face as the pictures of me seducing just formed unconsciously in my mind, "Why do you have to be so mean?"

"Alright, alright," She held up her hands, "I'm sorry, okay?" My gaze turned to the tomboy, out of my hands and smiling.

"How long until you can get out?" Tatsuki searched around the hospital room, scratching the back of her head.

"I don't know, I think they said I'll be okay to go leave before school starts."

"That's good. It'll be weird going to school without Tatsuki-chan." I slightly giggled and broadened my grin.

"Yeah, but, by the looks of you, I'd say you won't need me to protect you anymore." I stretched my arms out, checking over the toned muscles that had begun to build since I started training.

"I don't think I could hurt anyone-"

"Don't give me that!" I was shocked as she spoke up, my attention fully on her, "I know what you did to the receptionist. Frankly, I'm glad you did! He's been flirting with every teenage girl in this hospital!"

"Including you?"

"Why do you sound surprised?" My smile was wiped off my face as I frantically waved my arms about.

"I didn't mean it like that! I just thought you would have killed him, even if you are hospitalised!" A nervous laugh escaped as I rubbed the back of my head.

"Oh yes!" I, once again, changed the subject as I buried myself into my handbag, bringing out a small packet of cookies, "I made you a snack!" I closed my eyes and placed them on her lap, not sensing the dread that leaked out of her.

"Made? What's inside it?"

"It's my special recipe; Jelly-bean chip cookies! I gave some to Safaia before she went to school and she loved them, so I thought I'd make you some too."

"Still as hyper as ever I see." The young male voice reached my ears, making me turn to the raven-haired teenager in the doorway.

"Ishida-kun!" He nodded and entered the cosy room, hobbling along on a crutch and sitting down in the vacant chair beside me, "How are you?"

"I am fine, thank you, Inoue-san."

"Oi, Ishida, you want a cookie? Orihime's cookies are just so _awfully _nice!" The sense of Ishida becomeing some sort of test subject loomed around as she held out a cookie for him.

"No thank you, I don't like sweets."

"Hey, Ishida-kun," His eyes wondered over to me, looking with curiosity to proceed with my question, "Why wasn't I allowed to visit? I tried to come and visit you everyday but they told me 'Under Ryuken Ishida's orders, no one is allowed to visit Ishida Uuryu.'"

"I'm not sure, you should ask him." A slight dark aura seemed to pass over, leading me to try a different subject.

"How long 'till you can leave?" Tatsuki felt the presence too, leading her to get the word in before me.

"Tonight, as long as I don't do anything but rest. This means that I will not be able to continue my job as a quincy."

"Oh, that won't be a problem." My mouth ran faster than my mind registered, "The hollows are gone." Both teens stared at me with a questioning gaze.

"What do you mean; 'gone'?"

"Since Ichigo-kun has gone to the soul society, not many hollows have returned to Karakura town."

"Kurosaki's in soul society?"

"Orihime, why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"I told you, I wasn't allowed to visit. Anyway, he was called on an urgent message from the captain commander and won't be back until Saturday."

"The urgent message must have something to do with the hollows." Dead silence returned to the room, making my gaze turn to the ground. Tatsuki tapped my shoulder gently, regaining my attention.

"Orihime?" She had a weary gaze faced towards me, only to change to the devil smile she held just a few minutes earlier, "When did you start calling him 'Ichigo-kun'?"

"**W-w-what **the hellis that thing?" The brown haired man stumbled and sprinted as fast as he could, begging for dear life as he tried to out manoeuvre the giant monstrous creature that followed right behind him. His almond eyes petrified as he stared towards the road before him, stretching his bulky legs to make further distance between him and the creature pursuing him. Suddenly he was yanked back, his back painfully falling onto the concrete as his hands collided with the ponderous chain swathed around his chest.  
>"Shit! What is this chain?" He turned back to the lengthy creature, "Ahh! Get away from me!" He constantly pulled at the base of the chain, following to where it led to; the crowd of curious people surrounding the dented black misan and the motionless body that laid helplessly in the road. The hollow slowed down, making its ghastly way to the defenceless teenager. Quickly, the horrifying beast pounced to its prey, resulting to the teen's last deep breath as he flinched, awaiting for death to consume him. I swiftly grabbed him and rolled over the ground, leading him away from danger. My body stayed over his as I checked to see if he was still awake, smiling as I found him opening his eyes.<br>"Miss Inoue?" The confused stared wiped off of his face and changed to a blush as he realised I had saved him.  
>"Stay here, Dyuugeni-san." I sprinted back to the hollow and begun to fight. <em>'Another weak hollow and the only one I've seen today thankfully.'<em> My strengthening kicks made the hollow dance, not showing any signs of a hidden technique. _'Why do the hollows keep getting weaker with each one I fight?' _The tiny battle was over relatively quickly, disintegrating after its defeat. _'That's strange... This didn't seem like an ordinary hollow, it had to be the weakest I've ever come across!' _My gaze turned back to the traumatized teen as I begun to slowly make my way over to him. I knelt down beside him, checking over the small cuts and bruises he was covered in.  
>"Are you okay, Dyuugeni-san?" My grey orbs locked onto his almond ones, reading through his confusion and fright. He pulled his arm out of my gentle grip and placed his injured hands flat on the pavement. Immediately, his forehead followed, bowing graciously before me.<br>"Thank you very much, Miss Inoue. I couldn't of survived if you hadn't of been here to save me. In return, I'll do whatever you please as a token of gratitude."  
>"Its fine, Dyuugeni-san, please, raise your head." He obeyed and placed on a caring smile, one that complimented him very much, "We need to get you back into your body, quickly." I jumped up and hurried to the crowd, dragging Akihiko by the arm to his mortal frame. He lied above it, slowly sinking and opening his real eyes.<br>"He's awake!" "Oh thank goodness for that!" "But he didn't have a heartbeat?"  
>"Inoue-san?" I smiled once again to the young man and pulled him up, "I'm sorry for my behaviour to you on that day we met." I nodded and giggled as I remembered exactly what had happened on that day.<br>"Young man, don't you think you should go to hospital? You have just been hit by a car!"  
>"The hospital! If I'm late again I'm going to get fired! Come on, Inoue-san!" He motioned for me to follow and begun darting towards the community building.<br>"I have to pick up my daughter, but I'll see you later." He turned his head back and stopped midair.  
>"You have a daughter? Never mind, tell me later." The dashing began once again as he left my sight.<p>

"**MOMMY!"** I was lunged by the angel girl, causing me to fall back as her tiny arms wrapped tightly around my neck.  
>"Hello, Safaia! How was school?"<br>"Amawzing!" She laughed, "But I miwssed mama!"  
>"Aw, I missed you too honey." I sat up and placed her on my lap, grinning warmly at the diamond child.<br>"She's been an angle today, Miss Inoue," Ms Anini shuffled towards me, "I can't wait to see her again tomorrow."  
>"That's great to hear, I'm sure she'll look forward to coming back tomorrow too, right Safaia?" He head nodded vigorously as she waved her goodbye to Anini.<br>"Bye, Ms Anni! I'wl see you tomowwow!" I got up from the pale wooden floor and headed out, giving my goodbyes to the lovely teacher.  
>"Have a safe journey."<p>

**WELL... The whole point of that first paragraph was because after this week without Ichigo... A WHOLE LOAD OF THINGS WITH ICHIHIME IS ON IT'S WAY! =D -Also I was in a happy mood- Thanks for reading and I'll see you soon!**

**One thing if you lovely people can help me out: Should I upload my other stories as I'm writing this one or one at a time after? I just don't know if I'll be able to cope or if it gives me a wider range of story lines I could think about, it'll help me produce further plots and ideas, resulting to quicker chapters but on the other hand it could lead to me being stranded and not being able to complete them as quickly. If you can give me some advice please I'd be very grateful. :)**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	15. Uuryu's memories

**Oh god I'm so fricken' sorry! I really need to start writing again -_-. Here we go, chapter 15! I have been busy with school, hospital, karate... I just haven't had any time! Speaking of Karate, I am now an official KARATE ENGLAND CHAMPION! I got 1st place in team kata with my fellow team members; Emily and Rosie :D! YAY! Anyway, thanks reviewers and blah, you know I love you all, and enjoy the story!**

"**Ishida-kun?"**

"Yes?"

"Are you sure you'll be fine on your own?"

"I told you, Inoue-san, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. You are really kind to offer to take care of me, but you already have Safaia-san, I'd hate to be a bother." I pouted at the Quincy, but finally giving in to his argument.

"Well, okay, but if you need anything don't hesitate to call, okay?" He sighed but held a wonderful smile to me.

"Okay." With all his limbs, torso and his head bandaged up, along with two crutches to help him hobble along; no-one could wonder why I was worried about his well-being. I made a path for him as we swerved through the dazzling street, staring up to the clouded sky as the sun's shimmering glow settled behind the mountain horizon. Many busy individuals roamed graciously in all directions, cars beeped through the heavy traffic bringing the sound of a full city life to embellish my eardrums. Standing next to Ishida made me feel that I was lucky; Lucky that he had survived such an awful attack and that I still had him with me. My happiness was easily winning the battle against the images that still haunted my mind. _'I don't know what I would have done if I lost Ishida-kun, or Tatsuki-chan for that matter.'_ I didn't want to think of it. The cold, dark hours of depression of losing my friends, the long, horrid school days without Tatsuki-chan keeping me smiling, the quiet hours without Ishida-kun and Ichigo-kun arguing. I didn't want to think about it, but still my mind played against my will once again. I sighed in thankfulness, cherishing the fact that they were still by me. I turned for a quick glance to the raven-haired teen, noticing his own little scowl as he limped along in deep thought. Suddenly, his head shot up as a long growl reached our ears, almost as if all other sound had been blocked out as both of our cheeks changed to a lighter shade of red. My jovial giggles burst out as his wrapped up head stooped low.

"Are you hungry, Ishid-"Another long growl travelled to us, realising my own stomach had betrayed me. My giggles changed to the awkward tonne that paired sweetly with the forehead sweat drop.

"Maybe we should go and get something?" He suggested. I nodded in agreement, beginning to make my way towards the delicious smell of fresh ramen.

**The **savoury burst of the delicious, mouth watering meal exploded on my tongue, creating a soothing melody to form inside my cheeks. Taking the chopsticks out of the mixture, I let the rhythm play sweetly before caressing down my throat. How much I loved the simple pleasure of gorgeous food, it was something that needed to be enjoyed greatly and not just shoved down. My grey orbs shut tightly as my lips curled into a Cheshire cat grin, my fingers making the chopsticks dance along the rim of the bowl before diving in for another harmonizing mouthful. I let out a small sound of satisfactory before licking my lips devishly and eyeing the ramen and fish sticks like it was my helpless prey. The last moment quickly reached it's time, showing the little amount of flavoursome noodles drenched in the delectable soup. I pinched the concluding piece and delicately centred it perfectly to my lusting muzzle. Finally, the finale of taste conquered through, giving me the last sensation before entering through my oesophagus.

"So delicious!" I sighed, fulfilling all my hunger needs and placed the chopsticks on top of the large porcelain bowl. Little by little, I began to calm back down, bringing myself out of my food fantasy and back to reality. I turned to the young man who sat in front of me. He absent-mindedly held a piece of ramen in his wooden cutlery as he stared out the window, a long gaze plastered uncomfortably on his face.

"Is something wrong, Ishida-kun?" I began to get worried about the level-headed Quincy, begging silently for him to tell me all his problems. After all, that's what friends are for. His glowing blue eyes turned from the moon to me, his frown unfazed.

"No, it's nothing." The ramen finally found its way to Ishida as he travelled back to the moon. I shifted uncomfortably as an awkward atmosphere reached me. To try and remove myself from any horrid thoughts, I tried to think that he spoke the truth, that nothing was wrong, but I could tell, through his gaze, his voice, that something troubled him greatly. My eyes wondered to the chefs in the open kitchen, taking in the roaming smells of wonderful ramen dishes that they whipped up, then to the other customers, young and old, different inside and out, thinking about what they must be like, what past, present and future they all have, but nothing worked; I was forced back to Ishida's troubles. _'I can't just force him to tell me, he needs time to let himself talk. When it comes to it, I'll be here to listen. Like I said earlier; if he ever needs me, then he can call.'_

"Inoue-san," Uuryu sighed before turning to me, "I guess I'll need to tell you sooner or later." I sat up straight and set all my attention onto him. He wasn't just troubled, there was something he needed to get off his chest, something that ate him inside that needed to be killed, "There is... something that I remember about my attacker." He paused to take in my reaction. I didn't faze, or press him on; I just waited patiently for him to continue on his own.

"I'm not certain I heard correctly, but during the nights, I keep dreaming the same fight over and over again and the words the woman, and myself, spoke kept becoming clearer." His shoulders tensed up visibly as he spoke. I slowly placed a hand onto his, giving him friendly comfort to let him speak on.

"'Why do you try to protect her?' She said, 'Does this girl mean anything to you?' Then things got blurry again, but later on, I could hear clearly again, 'If you wish to live, you will stay away. I will not kill you, but I shall not be as kind if you get in my way again.'" A lump formed horribly in my throat as he shook under my grip. I wasn't used to seeing Ishida so fragile, it was even harder for me to hold myself back as he journeyed through the traumatic scenes that he played in.

"'This girl is just a mere pawn in my plan for revenge, she is not worthy of protecting.'" His hand tightened, making me place my other one onto his other.

"Please, Ishida-kun, who were you trying to protect?" I had an extremely bad feeling about this question, like I didn't want to know the answer.

"It was..." I sub-consciously held my breath as goose bumps shivered down my arms, "Arisawa-san." My breathing stopped completely, everything in the world just vanished as I was left in icy darkness. _'Tatsuki...-chan?' _I swallowed in fright as Ishida returned to my sight. _'She's after Tatsuki-chan?' _ Ishida removed his hands from my loosened grasp and returned the gesture, placing them onto mine instead.

"Maybe it is Arisawa-san the woman is after, not you." I took a moment to understand the situation, but no matter what, I just couldn't.

"But, if it's Tatsuki-chan she's after, why is she showing me and Ichigo-kun those dreams? Why did she tell me that I was part of her plan? Ichigo-kun's defeat?" I looked down to the table, beginning to feel sickly, "My death?" Ishida's shaking stopped quickly, his entire face in shock to that one tiny sentence.

"You were shown your death?" I nodded to confirm that he had heard correctly. I gave him all the details of it, making us both sink into despair with each traumatic image that formed between us.

"We need more information. Motive to what this sadistic woman has to be this way, why she's targeting us and who else is involved. Perhaps we should call Sado-kun back, and Kurosaki. I hate to admit it, but we need all the help we can get right now." I stayed silent but briefly nodded in agreement.

"But, wouldn't it be better if Ichigo-kun can get information from soul society? I haven't seen any shinigami for a few days now, so it'll be easier if Ichigo-kun can find out anything from some of the captains?" Ishida thought it over for a while.

"Okay, maybe that would be better. I'll speak to Sado-kun and ask if he can return while you speak to Kurosaki."

"Okay."

**Late **night rain struck against the frosty windows as I picked up the tiny technological piece, dialling the familiar name into the search to call the handsome teen. I fiddled frustratedly with my auburn locks as I placed the pale pink frame to my ear, listening cautiously to the running beep as it pressed on. Finally, a click was heard from the other side as the familiar husky voice answered me.

"**Hello?"**

"Ichigo-kun?"

"**Orihime-san, is something wrong?" **_'Can he tell by my tonne of voice?'_

"What? No! Nothing's wrong, Ichigo-kun! Does something have to be wrong for me to call?" I tried my fake happy tonne against him again, hoping that he wouldn't think I'm in trouble.

"**Haven't I told you before to not act like everything's alright?" **I was caught once again by his upset voice.

"You really can see through me, can't you?" I was, for some odd reason, glad to know that I couldn't fool my Ichigo-kun. It made me smile to know that he knew enough about me to know when I was sad, instead of always thinking that I was alright.

"**So, can you please tell me what's wrong?" **

"It's... not that anything is wrong, I just want to ask you to do something for me... please. Urahara-san told me that the person who attacked Ishida-kun and Tatsuki-chan was a shinigami, one that lived three hundred years ago. I was hoping that you could find out some information about her. All we know is that she is a criminal around that time, doing the same sort of attacks. Will you be able to find out some things?" My heart raced as I spoke about it. I felt as if I was on the verge of tears, yet couldn't understand why.

"**Of course I can, Orihime-san. I'll ask some of the captains who were around during that time, and see if there's any record. I can't promise anything, but I can try."**

"Thank you." I calmed down slightly to hear his voice again, I was quickly reminded how much I loved him, and also how much, "I miss you." There was a silence as I realised I spoke aloud, too loud. Even though he wasn't with me, I knew that he could sense the blush that had formed on my rosy cheeks.

"**I miss you too." **Even I could feel his blush from the other side of the line. We had only been apart for a couple of days, but still my heart burned to see his beautiful brown gaze again. **"I'll be home soon."**

"I know. Bye."

"**Bye." **I heard the phone line close, telling me to take it away from my ear. _'I can't wait to see you again, Ichigo-kun. And... Please come back with information, and please come back safe.'_

__**Next few chapters (probably until the Saturday Ichigo returns) will be through ICHIGO'S POV! I'll remind you next chapter just in case you forget but I thought I'd let you know now just to warn you. I have absolutely no idea when the next chapter will be up, I want it to be daily like before, or weekly at least, but I'm just not that good. Things will be quicker during holidays. Anywayz, R&R and I'll see you soon! ^_-**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	16. Ichigo's information hunt begins

**Wow I do truly suck when it comes to uploading -_- I'm REALLY so very VERY sorry about updating so late for my last one :( Anyway, I'm not too happy about this chapter, but I tried as well as I could. Please try to enjoy it for me and review, I'll try even harder to get another chapter up by next weekend, but please don't kill me if I don't!**

**TCWTH; Thank you so much ^_^**

**Nypsy; I always wanna hug Uuryu :P But I did want to try to make him see really fragile and out of character so I'm glad that worked ;)**

**foxfang27; Hello! Aww thank you so much! ICHIHIME 4EVA 3 ^-^**

**_*_*_*_I HAVE STARTED USING ICHIGO'S POINT OF VIEW PLEASE REMEMBER THIS UNTIL I SAY OTHERWISE THANK YOU!_*_*_***

"**I miss you." **Her breathy, wondrous voice spoke passionately down the phone, bringing a warm glow to my lips and cheeks. I knew I missed her, even if we've been apart for longer before, but that was before I understood my true feelings. There was so much I still wanted to tell her, so much I needed to do to show that I loved her, but still I couldn't. Even if I knew she felt the same, it was still too hard.

"I miss you too." I missed her more than she could ever have realised. I craved deeply for that splendiferous strawberry scent she claimed, her brilliant grey eyes that shone so bright like the tremendous moon in the black duvet of the sky. But her hair. It dropped so marvellously down her well framed body, glowing its autumn auburn to make Orihime shine graciously. She was beautiful. She was divine. How could such a princess ever fall for a punk like me? All I know is that I have fallen for her. I have fallen for a goddess high above me, and I'm not willing to let go of her wings.

"I'll be home soon." I'll be home to see you smile once again, please wait for me until.

"**I know. Bye." **

"Bye." I picked the phone off my ear and closed the line, smiling warmly after hearing her again. However, she had given me a personal mission. _'I'll begin tomorrow, and I promise you I'll do everything I can to keep you safe.' _ I fell back onto the futon in the spacious spare room and stared out the window to the full moon. The blinking stars and breezy wind brought a difficult peace to soul society, even though it ran in chaos at this certain time. I was called in by the head captain urgently, but wasn't needed until Friday night and prohibited from leaving until. I sighed deeply, placing my large hands behind my heavy head to rest during the harmonizing night; but sleep just didn't want to make an appearance. _'Why is soul society in so much chaos at one disappearance? Why are there no shinigami in the human world to look at these attacks? I've told Yama-jii about them_ _yet he still hasn't done anything about it. I need to find out these things.' _I watched koi fish jump to try and reach the diamonds that tendered them from above, only to fall back into the pit of changing water below. No matter how much they tried, they never could reach, but still they never gave up. _'What exactly is going on right now? Are April's disappearance and the attacks linked? A shinigami from 300 years ago... I don't know which captains were here; maybe I should talk to Yama-jii first thing tomorrow.'_

**I **knocked patiently on the towering wooden doors, pleading myself that he would listen to what I had to ask him. Minutes passed quietly, pressing my patients with each second I waited on the outside of his voluminous office. Again I knocked, awaiting for an answer.

"Yama-jii?"

"He's not here, Kurosaki-san." My eyes followed to the – usually – laid back captain, asking silently where he was, "He's with Jushiro analyzing the place April was taken." My shoulders dropped as I sighed.

"Well, do you know when he'll be back? I need to ask him something."

"Oh? Maybe I can help instead?" Shunsui offered kindly, tilting his hat up. I thought about all I knew about the captains, remembering that Shunsui and Jushiro had been in their respectable positions for some time.

"Do you know anything about a shinigami attack, about 300 years ago?"

"An attack?" He placed his hand below his chin and thought deeply into my question, "The only one I can think of is the one with Yuuna Kasumi - the 'gentle mist' murderer. Is that who you wanted to know about?"

"'Gentle mist'? It might be. What do you know about her?" He turned back to me and begun striding along the corridor behind me.

"Follow, Kurosaki-san, I'll tell you somewhere more comfortable."

"**Sake**?" The old captain offered.

"No thanks." He shrugged before pouring the bubbly liquid into his own cup.

"So, who is this 'gentle mist' murderer? I need to know everything about her, if possible." I questioned politely, eager to understand if this person is the one who had been attacking my friends.

"Yuuna Kasumi, she was a member of the 1st squad. She was always quiet and never seemed to open to anyone, yet she seemed like the most harmless person you could ever meet."

"What happened?" He took another sip of his sake before continuing.

"Nobody knows. One minute she was helping anyone she met in any way she could, the next she was killing anyone in sight. It was a horrid sight to see so many shinigami fall under her hand. Her real name is unknown, which is why she was referred to as the Yuuna Kasumi murderer. She killed in an illusion, none of those who survived could remember a face, one described her to almost be engulfed in black mist, and others say that only her zanpactou was visible." _'This is the person attacking us, no mistaken.' _

"But there was defiantly nothing gentle about her attacks. She sliced her victim down to a messy, bloodied pulp before leaving them to die."

"Then why was she called gentle?"

"The gentle part was referring to her movement. I was searching for survivors with Unohana-san when she had killed over fifty shinigami in one room when she returned." His head tilted down, hiding his face in a blacked shadow that fell darkly from his hat, "I was the next victim. I only survived because of Unohana-san taking me out of the black mist that she proclaimed she saw. After that she pursued it." The words shocked me incredibly. _'Kyoraku has been named one of the strongest captains in Serieti, how much power does this woman have?' _Quickly my thoughts were brought to Orihime, Tatsuki and Ishida. And especially Safaia. _'Shit! Has she been toying with us? Why hasn't she killed anyone if she's this powerful? They're all in danger, and I can't do anything about it!' _I clenched my fists in frustration. I needed more information, I needed to protect them; I needed to protect Orihime and Safaia. _'If anything was to happen to them...' _I did all I could to block out the possibilities.

"What happened after Unohana-san pursued the mist?"

"She came back with a lot of wounds, but also captured her. She didn't look anything like the young girl working under Yama-jii anymore, but a cold-blooded killer. We still don't understand why she went on a rampage like that, or why she killed. All I know after that is that central 46 sent her to prison for a few hundred years. I do remember that, once I saw her face again after being in that mist, it fit in clearly; I could remember the entire thing after that. Rumours have been told that she had been let out of prison after killing all the in-mates, and sealed into a top secret location. Even the head captain wasn't told where that was."

"What did she look like?"

"A young, in human years, teenager, perhaps fifteen to you, with very long brown hair. Her eyes were a very dull blue before she killed, but after, they were terrifying." He visibly shuddered before gulping down the bottle of sake.

"What colour were they?"

"That's the problem, they didn't have one colour. They changed into a bright blue, like a diamond, then to deep emerald green, then to sapphire blue."

My heart skipped a beat. I felt my brown eyes widen horribly. _'S-sapphire blue eyes?' _My stomach lurched; I was going to vomit. The pace of my heart quickened, but no blood reached my head. Everything turned fuzzy before leaving me in a black abyss. _'Could it be possible? Could Sapphire have something to do with this? No, she could... could she? She's a baby, Orihime's baby, I was there when she found her, we would of felt spiritual pressure if she was... the... but she does have spiritual pressure, or she wouldn't of been able to see Rukia at that time. No, I can't believe it! Coincidence?' _I grabbed the unbearable pain seeping from my chest, like it was being clamped, crushed into pieces. _'Does this mean I could have stopped everyone from being injured if I had acted sooner, or if I hadn't of been so blind? How will I tell Orihime? Can I tell her? Argh, why did it have to be Orihime?' _I stayed in silence for ages, think about other possibilities instead of what logic pointed towards.

"Kyoraku-san?" I dropped my head down, trying to hold back my anger and confusion to try and reach for my last hope, "Have there been anything about someone being sealed into a human?" _'Please be impossible, I just couldn't bare to ever see Orihime in so much pain, and I couldn't bare to have to harm Safaia, or take her away from Orihime.' _

"No, there hasn't been any record of it, and I've never heard of it being done. I don't know about any kido capable of that either. It's probably unlikely to impossible. _'Thank goodness for that.' _Huge relief washed away my doubts quickly, bringing my heart pace back to its calm pace.

"Well, that's all I know about her. Is there anything else you need?" He jumped up from the tiny table on the floor and placed his hands through his sleeves. I followed with a slight smile through my compensation.

"Yes, is there anything like a library that might hold further information?"

"Of course! I'll take you, but then I must get back to my paperwork before Naneo-chan hits me again." Fastly, I followed behind the pink kimono of the captain to the information factory. _'Don't worry Orihime-san, I'll keep you, and Safaia safe no matter what.'_

__**Tried some mystery, some Ichihime and tried extremely hard to keep Ichigo in character - but failed. Please review for me, I'll get my chapters up as soon as I can! Thanks for reading and being so wonderful and loyal to me since I begun this story, I haven't even gotten halfway through yet ;P See you soon!**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	17. Perplex Purpose

**YAY, only nine days since my last update ^_^ that's quite quick considering how many times I do update! OH MY FRICKEN' GOD WITH CHERRY'S AND BANANA CREAM! I HAVE ALMOST GOTTEN 100 REVIEWS! You have no idea how happy I am ^_^ :} Thank you so much *pours + hugs you all* I don't care about those with thousands of reviews just a hundred is fantastic for me, especially when it's with you wonderful pplz 3 Please Enjoy this chapter (I don't really know what to think of it myself) x**

**foxfang27; *glomps* ^_^ I'm liking you too! Thank you sooo much ^_- **

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**SweetNothingz; I'm afraid your far off for both but good guesses ;)**

_'**Yuuna **Kasumi... Yuuna Kasumi...'_ I browsed over the criminal records list over and over, dating back to almost four hundred years for the particular name, straining my eyes over each and every name that had been placed carefully; I just couldn't afford to skip one, not when everyone's lives were in so much danger. With the lengthy list came a number next to the name, indicating the file number in the hundreds of filing cabinets. The dim lighting in this windowless mansion-of-a-room caused my eyes to painfully dilate in hope of catching some incandescence light that ghostly loomed. _'Yuuna Kasumi... Yuuna Kasumi...' _ What time was it? I had been searching for hours. No matter where I looked it was one name I just couldn't pry my chocolate orbs onto. Was Shunsui lying about the murderer? No, he couldn't have known exactly what I needed to hear. I rubbed my sore eyes and placed down the list, sighing and leaning back hopelessly. No, I couldn't give up yet; this is too important leaving alone, even for a while. The infinite documentation had thousands of files, yet only one is what I needed. Where is that name? Is it her real name instead?

"_Her real name is unknown, which is why she was referred to as the Yuuna Kasumi murderer"_

That was his words, but surely if she was part of the 1st squad, then the captain commander should know? I'll give it a while longer; I'll keep searching until my eyes go black. Orihime is counting on me. Ishida and Tatsuki are hospitalized because I couldn't do anything. I need as much information as I can get until the Friday night I'm needed, before the Saturday morning I'm returning to them.

Perhaps instead of the name, I could find out about any kidos that can put a shinigami into a human body. Of course I believed what Shunsui had said, but I don't have much faith in a coincidence either. Does Safaia really have something to do with this? Like Orihime once said; _isn't it weird that April turned up as all this begun_, but what she missed was that so did Safaia. I had already questioned my sanity to think that maybe a child, a toddler, had something to do with the murders of three hundred years ago, but it reminded me of Chad's parakeet. A young boy's soul was trapped in that bird, with a hollow following it around in order to kill; perhaps this wasn't so different. Maybe... maybe... But I would risk losing the woman I love if I did anything to Safaia, if the information I give to her is something she refused to believe, a logical reason she blocks out.

Finally, I dropped the endless document to find my next restless task. I got out the cushioned chair to another section of the library: The kido section. Books beside books, documents and papers and scrolls and so much more lied neatly along the dark wooden shelves, each of the filled with detailed and unique information regarding the same topic. My fingers traced delicately over the spines of the timely stacks, hoping to find one that had remotely anything to what I was searching for. _'Beginner training... Advanced... Forbidden spells... Demon arts... Bodily transfer, wait: Demon arts, bodily transfer, those may have something.' _I pulled out the two books in aspiration, heaving my worn out body to the low settees at the end of the isle. _'Bodily transfer.' _The book had a promising title, I was begging for it to have the information I desired in order to let me get back and rest. My handle of the book was quick but careful as I turned to the opening pages.

_Transfer of spiritual pressure; a rumour or fact? Only on its rarest occasions had such a technique been used in the past; One of them being to our known substitute shinigami today; Kurosaki Ichigo._

'_Well this won't be any use if it's to do with me.' _I sighed tiredly and flicked through the pages, skim reading a few other passages.

"Nothing." Placing the book down beside me, the 'Demon arts' book was next. Once again, I turned to the introduction;

_The Demon arts are used by shinigami during battle for both defensive and offensive purpose. It is widely known as 'Kido', techniques that are used by focusing spiritual pressure into a chant, creating a spell to defeat an opponent or defend a partner..._

_There are two main types of Kido: Bakudo and Hado. However, Demon arts do not consist of just these two groups, as one can create their own kido with enough practice, skill and ingredients..._

_Many different shinigami have made their own type of Demon art, some can only be used by the generations of the creator, others, widely used by many shinigami. These basic kidos are taught in the academy for the others to use in battle..._

_Most Demon arts that were created had been deemed too dangerous for the surrounding companions by the Captain Commander, then labelled as 'Forbidden spells'. The forbidden spells can range from fire to ice types, to illusion or..._

The next words jumped to me. I knew I had found what I was looking for. These three little words were the key to my search.

_...mind and body control. _

Quickly I stood, running down to the end of the gigantic bookcases to find that book I had seen earlier; the _Forbidden spells_ book. _'Where is it...? Where is it? There!' _I yanked it off along with more factual, useless books and particle clouds that stung my eyes. I didn't care. My eyes didn't shut as I scanned the pages like lightening, only needing anything that'll break through these attacks. Finally I found it.

_Misuto no maindo sōsa – Mist Mind Manipulation_

_Type; Hado  
>Spell Number; Unknown<br>Chant; Unknown  
>Created by; Kurosawa family<em>

_This technique was created and used by Kurosawa Kurami, or better known as 'Yuuna Kasumi' for the murders she had performed using this technique. Misuto no maindo sōsa manipulated the enemy into seeing nothing but a black mist engulfed around her body, hiding away her appearance and spiritual pressure. Anything that left the 30 centimetre around her skin would not be hidden; this usually led her zanpactou to visibility. Although the mist was almost like a cloak around her, another ability was that she could not be harmed underneath it; attacking the mist would of led to the destruction of the enemy's weapon._

Kurosawa Kurami. I turned back to the desk with the criminal records list. _'I don't remember seeing that name.' _Still I headed over, holding onto the paper page with the serviceable data while I searched. _'Kurosawa Kurami... Kurosawa Kurami...' _I was back to where I had started. _'File 10863.' _

"10850... 10855... 10860... 10863!" The brown folder I had been searching for since this morning. Inside this one small package contained the next step of understanding who we're up against, who this monster is, and why she is targeting Orihime. My breathing stopped as I sat down, undoing the file slowly. I didn't know why, but my anxiousness kept me from pulling out the sheets. _'The moment of truth...'_

_I do remember that, once I saw her face again after being in that mist, it fit in clearly; I could remember the entire thing after that._

'_...Who are you...' _I pulled out the many papers of information about the murderer. _'... Why are you targeting my friends... ' _I took a deep breath in to calm my nerves, _'... And, and what do you look like?' _The picture was forced out... I was sent into a world of memories as I stared at the angered teen before me.

_Eyes that scattered blue crystals, green emeralds, they did not hold one colour. As her stealth zanpactou reached into my abdomen, the pain tore straight into my heart. I was cold. I was weak. I was scared. Her hair with length as long as Orihime's, with the colour of a lion's mane rained graciously down her back, even though there was nothing gracious about this girl. I was afraid. My blood oozed out of the fresh wound, staining my body as it seeped through. My body trembled. Everywhere there was nothing, nothing but the cold blooded woman before me... except the wondrous goddess beside me. Seeing her made my body shut down as I fell to my fate in despair. I failed her. I hurt her. She watched as I was about to die. And she watched my killer do it with a merciless grin broad on her face. _

"_Orihime... I... love-" I couldn't finish. I was on the verge of tears just by seeing hers spill out so much. She was strong. But seeing me die brought her most feared weakness through. _

"_Why don't you shut up and die quietly!" The zanpactou was thrown out of my fatigue body and sliced across my throat. She screamed. I was dying. 'All those battles I had survived: Against Byakuya, Ulquiorra, Grimmjow... I still needed to fight Uuryu. There was a lot I needed to finish, a lot I needed to do. I needed to keep Orihime safe; I needed to make sure my death meant she wouldn't be hurt. She needed to be safe. I knew why she was crying. Without her Shun shun rikka, she couldn't heal me; she couldn't bring me back as she did before. This time I would die. My body hit the ground hard, my face towards the darkness of the dirt underneath me. Even with my throat sliced, somehow I said the last word._

"_You..." My eyes closed gently as I gave into the light that called me._

"_Ichigo...!" _

"AAH!" The chair swung back to the floor as I grabbed my agonizing head. Those memories. How could I see my own death? Why was I shown something as horrifying as that? How... What... I had too many questions running through my head. My head throbbed uncontrollably, my body heated uncomfortably, quickly I threw myself at the door for fresh air; I needed to escape. _'My death... I die with Orihime... No, I can't let it happen, I won't let it happen!' _I screamed. The memories I held were painful, agonizing, too much to bare. Something else was there; not only my death, but something much more. _'Please no...' _

_Tears. __The tears of pain. Tears of anger. Tears of fear. They all flooded out of my eyes as my zanpactou stood a whisper away from her. My beloved Hime. Why couldn't I control my body? My precious Hime. I stared into her open grey eye, still filled with light even though I was the one against her, her other closed tight as blood poured over her lid. Blood descended down her beautiful body everywhere... Did I really do this to her? Anguish, pain, agony, my heart was dying as I stared at her broken state. She stared into my eyes with love, and I tried to return, but only my pain was reflected. 'Now...' The dark voice breathed into my aching soul, 'Slice her down, quick and easy, so you can watch her die, knowing that the man she loved had killed her heartlessly.' My tears rolled down my dry ice cheeks, my hands moving on their own will as they finally took my woman's last hope of life._

"_I'm sorry..." I whispered, the pain driving me insane as she fell, almost in slow motion towards the blood stained carpet. Too many heart filled memories passed my eyes to what we had achieved together, each of them placing me into more despair. I watched her hair dance in front of her busted face. My eyes turned black before she hit the floor, my body falling along with hers as I could feel my own limbs returning to my control. But I didn't want to live. I didn't want to live knowing I had killed the one woman I had ever loved._

I crashed into the walls. How could that be possible? I died with Orihime beside me, but I killed her in a different atmosphere, another place. Does that mean they're illusions? Does that mean they may not really come true? Even if it wasn't going to happen, the pain I felt was there. I was in agony. I needed to know. My death, Orihime's death... What was going on? Why was this happening? I could feel trickles of tears falling down my cheeks. How did this happen? Why was she doing this to me, to us? Orihime... I will keep you safe, I'll defiantly make sure that these petrifying illusions stay that way. I'd never kill you, and I'd never die knowing that you're sad. I will keep you safe no matter what.

**Well whatcha think? I was so hyped while writing this... and is it weird that I almost made myself cry as I was writing the ending? Anywayz thx 4 reading and see you another time!**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	18. Homecoming

**Damn I'm so late in updating! I'm really sorry about that. How was everyone's christmas? :) I loved mine! And very soon I am getting a BYAKUYA TEDDY! :D XD :} _I'm so excited and I just can't hide it! _Anyway, please enjoy and I really doubt that I'll be able to update before the new year so just in case; HAPPY NEW YEAR! One of my revolutions will be to try and update. But then, as most of you may have realised, I'm not extremely reliable -_- I do try though. Anyway, Thank you reviewers and Enjoy!**

**OrihimeKurosakiInoue; I AM GOING TO SQUEEZE YOU TO AN INCH OF YOUR LIFE! :D Not only did you give me such an amazing review that made my week, but you are also my 100 REVIEWER! THANK YOU SO MUCH! **

**DevilTito; Thank you! :D Your review made me smile so much ^_^**

**DeathBerryLover1995; Thanks for reviewing! No, sorry but I've never heard of that film, the idea came to me strangely though. I also draw manga and one of my stories has a friend of mine in it, and she's alot like Orihime. When I told her about it the first thing she said was; 'Make my character get pregnant!' So it just brought me to Orihime being the motherly type. I didn't like the idea of her just raising Safaia though, so that's were Yuuna Kasumi came from. ^_^**

Sunrise. A glow of wondrous happiness as the world arises slowly to the beautiful sound of life. Little by little the body begins to work itself awake after a lovely night's sleep, ready and energized for a new horizon, a new day, a blissful morning. No one can describe the feeling such a rise makes a human feel, and no one can understand why you feel so alive as the giant ball of fire descend above the grassy mainland; an event that happens every day, yet it never becomes tiresome.

I couldn't help but crack a smile knowing that I would return to my princess again today. Ever since I let her get kidnapped by the arrancars, I couldn't stand the thought of leaving her alone anymore. Perhaps I was becoming over-protective. I know she can care for herself, yet I feel the need that I need to care for her more. I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to her. Those terrifying memories of her death still plague my mind to the need to scream out my sorrows. Just the thought brings a lump into my throat. How could I become so black-hearted to kill the girl I loved? It just isn't possible.

Yesterday evening's events were pressed into my head, to distract me from the distressing thoughts. Who knew that April would have a secret like that? I guess that was why she acted so strangely that day at training, and when we fought Yumichika's mod soul; she was afraid. I never knew Kon had disappeared from Rukia after she took him, I only realised when he had shown himself in a white image of my body, looking almost exactly like my hollow side. But why was he there? It wasn't like him to look so depressed, or stay quiet for so long... Was that really him? Perhaps seeing the newest captain's past had knocked him down slightly, as it did with me. At least she's back, and the mod soul business has ended with her returning. So many questions are still unanswered, but perhaps because I am human I would never understand. Like: 'Why was Byakuya so upset by these events?' I had never seen him with so much emotion portrait on his face, it was more intense that I've ever seen him before, even worse than when I had to fight him. It was almost the same with Ukitake-san. How hurt he must have been to learn of his own daughter's secret. Orihime will have to know of this as well as about Kurosawa Kurami.

Kurosawa... What purpose do you have to put us through these awful illusions? I always had fear when I was about to fight an enemy, fear as I went to rescue Rukia and Orihime, but it was the fear that made me strong. Now it's fear that's breaking me down. _'No, I can't be like this; I need to stay strong for everyone.' _

I sat up in my futon and stretched, releasing my relaxed limbs from the wondrous sleep I had been awaken by. A great yawn escaped before I begun to make my way to get ready for another day, ready for the events that could happen, and ready to meet my beloved Hime once again.

"Mama, when's daddy coming home?"

"He should be home very soon now, Safaia." The huge sparkling eyes of hers widened with enjoyment, complimenting the gorgeous giggles that she let out. _'Safaia really has become attached to Ichigo-kun...' _I smiled to the glowing toddler, taking in the amazing amount of cuteness she possessed. Her sapphire eyes twinkled beautifully, bringing a faint shade of rose to her tiny chubby cheeks; it was impossible not to fall for the tiny tot when she let out her trademark giggle.

My plan was still in motion. I grabbed my hairbrush and begun at my lengthy locks, keeping my new hair design in place. Without my pins, my bangs grew out; framing my face with an orange glow and my hair had grown increasingly longer, and to my pleasure, more wavy and full. This was step one of my plan. I wasn't sure if my rejection caused Ichigo to no longer love me, so my new style was a way to catch him once again.

"Mama, may I brush your hair?" Safaia's tiny hand reached out for the Sepia brush, smiling endearingly as she past it gently through the tips of my auburn tresses. _'Her speech has gotten so good in a matter of weeks, she is a fast learner.' _My gaze turned from the vanity mirror to the diminutive pins that lazed on the desk. Only three pins were left broken, however, there were four gaps left.

"Shun'o-san, Ayame-san?" The two fairies shimmered with light before appearing in front of me. Both girls looked terribly tired and worn, but still tried to hold their bountiful grins as they addressed me.

"Yes, Orihime?"

"Has there been any sign of Tsubaki-chan yet?" Their grins quickly washed away, placing the blonde girl's head down.

"I'm afraid not. He hasn't returned since the fight with Yumichika, perhaps he escaped the fate we did not." With a slight nod from me, they returned to the pins, ready to begin healing Lily, Baigon and Hinagiku. I turned back to the glossy mirror, wondering about what could have happened to the fiery figure that once sat upon my clips. He was always trouble, but I could never complain; I just wish he could return.

Another sight caught my attention, dragging my grey orbs over to the silver frame that placed the mirror. Clipped onto it was two pieces of small, rectangular paper, holding the date of next Saturday, a time and place. They were part of phase two of my foolproof plan. Just the thought of it brought my face to a high shade of red. _'I can do it... It's no big deal, is it now... I'll just ask... No! I can't do it!' _I mentally slapped myself before calming down again, just in time for a loud knock through the large door. The sound echoed slowly into my brain, letting it register, but causing my legs to stiffen and refuse to do my bidding. Another knock was placed, followed by an 'Orihime-san!', yet my annoying legs still didn't move.

"Coming!" The sweet tot shouted, pelting down to the door.

"Ah... Safaia! Wait, Safaia, let me do it!" I hadn't notice myself get up, or answer the door as I spoke to the child. I turned to the handsome man who stood in front of me, his golden aura swelling to make any lady blush. His gorgeous grin was too much for a sane person to miss as the sun reflected down upon him, turning him into the angel he was.

"Ichigo-kun!" My mouth hung open at the sight of him, yet the corners twitched into a smile. His amazing chocolate orbs turned from my eyes to my hair.

"Wow, Orihime-san, you look absolutely wonderful!"

**That **was an understatement. She was sensational, amazing, and beautiful. I never thought she could ever look even better than she already did, I thought it was impossible. But here she stood. Holding onto the tiny tot, and smiling into my eyes so perfectly. I really needed to keep myself from promoting my kisses upon her wondrous pursed lips.

"Thank you." I loved seeing her blush; it was such a sweet character of hers, "Come in, Ichigo-kun."

"Thanks." I proceeded in and took my place onto the apricot settee I had become a custom to while she went into the kitchen to prepare some treats and drinks. When she came back in, she gently placed herself next to me, fidgeting for an unknown reason to me.

"How was it in soul society, did you find out anything?" I sighed and begun my long story of events and information I had witnessed. Little by little, Orihime's luxurious face begun to show discomfort and agony, yet understandment and relief. I told her about why April was acting so strangely, what the mod soul's goal was, as well as the Yuuna Kasumi murderer. However, I didn't mention my dreams; I didn't want to cause our relationship to drop.

"**I **see. Okay, that does explain a lot; at least we know what we are up against." His dark eyes turned to the untouched food tray, his hands flowing back gracefully through his strong strawberry locks. Our silence stayed for a few seconds before he spoke up.

"Anyway, I'll make sure that this deranged woman doesn't come to harm you, or anyone." I smiled as he turned his manly gaze to me. He was so handsome. It was hard for me to not ruin the surprise. Perhaps now was a good time to mention it. _'It's now or never. Better to regret asking than to regret not asking.' _

"**Enough** of this depressing stuff now." She suddenly burst out, getting off the sofa.

"Um... Okay then, where are you going?" She walked out the room with her wavy locks dancing behind her. Without an answer, she returned with red cheeks and something held behind her back. _'What's gotten into you, Orihime?' _

"Um... Ichi-Ichigo-kun... I was wondering... um..."

"What is it, Orihime?" One hand came from behind her back and began twirling a silky lock.

"Well... I... I have these tickets to see FACT... and was wondering if... you and I could..." She held out the two tickets with her delicate fingers towards me. _'FACT? She wants to see a hardcore rock band?' _

"I... I didn't think that was your type of music." I smiled, taking one of the tickets, "I'd love to go, they're one of my favourite bands!"

"**Really**? I've never really told many people about my taste in rock bands, but there are quite a few I enjoy." I smiled, I knew that he loved the band already. As Ichigo was away, I had done my own little bit of research, finding out that they were on tour, and his favourite band.

"When do they play?" He turned to the information held on the small ticket, holding a massive grin I never knew Ichigo could handle.

"Next week." Turning back to me, his eyes shimmered with excitement and affection. _'I don't believe it! Me and Ichigo, on a date! He said yes! I'm going to explode!'_

__**FACT is a real Japanese hardcore band so I just want to write this;**

**I DO NOT OWN FACT, I HAVE JUST USED THE NAME FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSE, PLEASE DON'T SUE ME!**

**Done. ^_- Please review for me I'm sorry that not much had happened in this chapter, but school will start on the next one and more characters will show up. Who will be the next victim? Read to find out! Oh and also: It's between chapter 9 - 11 where April's secret is exposed in TFO so if your interested you'll need to read that since I'm not saying in this story. I did warn you before you started this story! Anywayz, thx 4 reading and goodbye!**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	19. Gossip madness

**Wow, it's been long hasn't it? I'm really sorry about that, I just had major writer's block. God I hate that. So, instead, I've made a little extra long chapter for you (longer by my standards anyway) :) I don't know when I'll update, but I think you'll be pleased by this chapter anyway. Enjoy...**

**Thanks to all my reviewers, I couldn't pick out three were I loved them all so much! XD**

'_**Was**__ I dreaming? Did I really ask Ichigo-kun to the concert yesterday? Ah! I'm going to explode with happiness!' _I clasped my hands over my reddened face and held back my squeal. _'I'm finally going to do it! I'm finally going to ask him out! I really can't wait for Saturday now!' _I stared at myself in the vanity mirror, blushing at my blushes and giving my face a natural glow. Still my orange locks waved down as my bangs framed delicately over my sublime silken skin. I was so hyper this morning. Quickly I threw on my grey jacket and placed on my lovely red bow, ready for a new term at school. _'Is it just me or is my jacket a little tighter?' _I frowned slightly. I hated it so much when the male, and some female, classmates stared at me with lust. It sent horrible shivers down my spine as they begun mentally stripping me. Sometimes it made me feel sick just to talk to them. This was why I liked Ichigo-kun so much, he wasn't a pervert, and he kept himself as a gentleman who would never treat woman as tools.

"Mama, it's time to go!" A bubbly little girl called to me.

"Yes, I'm coming!" I smiled and sped out of my bedroom to the door were my young child stood elegantly. She was adorable in her nursery uniform. A tiny tucked-in sky blue shirt with a white skirt, held up by braces, and small white hair bobbles to keep her ever growing, flowing brunette hair in two loose pigtails at the side of her head. She smiled a sweet pearly white grin and kept her sapphire eyes gladly fixed onto my grey orbs as I stepped towards her.

In just one month she had grown so fast. I knew it was faster than any ordinary young girl; in just one month she went from a two year old, to a four year old equivalent. Why was she growing up so fast? Was it down to her spiritual pressure? Was she... even human? I needed answers, even I knew that she wasn't growing at the slow-pace human rate; she would need to be put into infant's school if she continues like this.

I scooped up the not-so-tiny tot, now reaching to the middle of my thighs, and headed out the door. She was so angelic when she laughed, when she smiled, but I couldn't help escape the feeling that she may have something to do with this Yuuna Kasumi. Was a child really capable of being a part of these attacks? No... Ichigo would have said something if she was... wouldn't he?

"Orihime-san!" A familiar female tonne called out to me. Quickly, joy formed over my face as I leant over the balcony.

"Tatsuki-chan! And..." Her face was wide with a cheeky grin as she waved to me, but the person who stood beside her grazed their eyes solemnly and gently into my eyes, their face free of any discomfort, giving a delicate, sweet smile that could only ever belong to someone staring at someone they loved.

"Ichigo-kun!" No matter how much I see him, no matter how much time I spend with him, I always blush; I always go into over-drive every time I see that gorgeous face of his.

"Yo, Orihime-san!" He waved, still keeping his succulent position that drove my heart crazy.

"Taski, Daddy!" Safaia reached her skinny arm down to them, making her lean too far over the edge.

"Whoa, Safaia, don't lean so far, you'll fall! Wait until were downstairs, then you can run up to them." She obediently took her arm away and wrapped it around my neck, letting me ease her down so she could pelt down the stairs.

"Ah! Safaia, wait! Don't go so fast! No! I don't want you to hurt yourself!"

"**Daddy!" **She quickly threw herself into Ichigo's lowered hunky arms, squeezing him tightly before turning to give Tatsuki her turn.

"Wow, she's grown quickly! It's almost unnatural." Tatsuki pointed out. She softly ruffled the child's head and placed her back down.

"I hope you don't mind, but I need to take her to nursery before heading over to school, I'll catch up with you."

"It's alright, Orihime, we came here early because of that very reason. Ichigo here told me since he knew we walk together to school." She pointed over to the taller man.

"By the way, Ichigo-kun, how come your here too?" _'He never walks with me to school... not that I'm complaining.' _ His face turned to a slight shade of red as his hand went to the back of his head. His eyes diverted and closed – the signs he does when he's trying to hide his 'real' reason.

"I was just walking by... and I... then I saw Tatsuki." Such a lame excuse, but it was cute when he tried to hide the fact about him caring. I smiled and played 'buying' the lie.

"We better start going, I don't want to make everyone late." With the quick nods needed to agree, we begun swiftly strolling towards our destination.

The sun's morning sunshine beat all types of weather, especially when it's warm glowing rays sent love and care to the exposed skin of the face. A complimentive breeze slowly passed through my locks, letting them dance graciously around my shoulders. I really loved the mornings. No cloud pierced the blue sky with its silver lining, but kept away from such a wondrous day. I stood calmly next to my best friend, my crush, and my child, I couldn't ask for more for such a beautiful beginning of the day.

"**Bye mama!" **I waved back to my growing child as she ran to her group of friends in the playroom, "Bye daddy!" I watched Ichigo return the gesture of her wave and turned back to me.

"We're almost like a real family. Especially as she always refers me as 'daddy' now." Ichigo smiled sadly to me, "Let's go." We headed out the bright yellow door once again in order to endure our longer walk to our school. Still his saddened face ruined the smile he held beautifully earlier as we headed down the street.

"Is something wrong, Ichigo-kun?" I hated to see him like this, like there's something burdening him... _'Like how I burdened him all those times.' _

"Well... yes and no I guess. I mean... like I said, we really are almost a family with Safaia... but..."

"But?" _'Doesn't he want to be a family? Does he want to stop being Safaia's dad? Please no!' _

"Orihime!" His sudden outburst caught me by surprise. Quickly, his grand hands grabbed softly onto my forearms, making me stare straight into his troubled eyes. For some odd reason, Tatsuki continued to walk, only holding a miscevious smirk while she left.

"To me, it seems like two parents who aren't together. You know that I like you, Orihime-san, I really like you. Hell, I love you! So please, won't you give me a chance to be with you? I'm sorry for being so forceful, I really wanted to wait until Saturday, during the concert, but I just couldn't hold it in." He let go of my arms and turned red, diverting his eyes once again, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose control like that." My expression showed exactly how I felt: shocked but happy. "I don't mind if you don't answer now, like I said, I'll wait forever if I have to." He regained his posture and carefully grabbed my hand, pulling me along as I kept my shocked expression. _'He's... asking me out? What should I do? I was meant to ask him out at the concert! But he was planning the same thing? What should I do?' _Confusion was surpassed quickly by happiness as I finally noticed my hand in his. _'I know...' _

**That **dark aura came around. Even the brightest days can have a down side. No matter what I could have done, nothing could stop what was about to happen.

"Hime-chan!" My breasts were tightly pressed against one another by the strong hands of the subvert sheila. Her screams of delight overpowered my screams of fright, but still I understood who was attacking me.

"Get off her you creep!" Once again the challenging Chizuru was punched down to the back of the class by my protector. I laughed sheepishly at the two girls arguing over me. 'Why do you keep our love apart?' 'Why do you not understand how much Orihime hates that sort of attention?' It wasn't that I truly hated it; it was just Chizuru-chan's way of saying hello as far as I was concerned. But at the same time, Tatsuki-chan was right; I did hate that sort of attention. But I just didn't have the heart to tell her that, Chizuru-chan was Chizuru-chan, nothing could ever change that. I smiled to the arguing pair; they did like each other really, even if it didn't seem that way.

"Hey, Inoue-chan." I got a friendly wave from Natsuias she wondered over gracefully.

"Hi, Natsui-san." I replied joyfully.

"So...," She leant over closely my way, almost whispering into my ear, "What's going on between you and Kurosaki? Hm? Don't tell me nothing, I saw you walking together to school so don't lie to me..." She gave the sort of knowing smile that every gossip-loving girl wore at a sign of new news.

"Huh? K-Kurosaki? And Hime-chan? How dare he!" I heard Chizuru shout from across the class.

"Eh! No, Chizuru-chan, Natsui-san! There- There's nothing going on between me and Ichigo-kun!" I clumped my hands over my mouth and turned six shades of red. Did I just-! Loads of squeals of new gossip formed from the girls as the guys started threatening Ichigo for 'stealing me'.

"Did she call him Ichigo-kun?" "That's what I heard!" "Oh my god, they're on first-name bases!" "Are they going out?" "How could such a sweet girl go out with a punk like him?" "He's going to be a bad influence on her!"

'_Oh no, Ichigo-kun, I'm sorry! Now a lot of rumours are going to spread!' _I threw my arms around in hope of trying to explain, but nothing fell through the hard heads of gossip-loving teens. Tatsuki stepped away from Chizuru and headed towards me.

"Well, you've done it now, Orihime. Let's hope that Ichigo doesn't mind too much. I'm sure that brute will understand, but I'm also sure he'll get annoyed at the girls asking questions."

Just on cue, the carrot-top teen waltzed in. Keeping his ordinary scowl plastered on and his bag held over his shoulder, he entered the hyped-up class. Everyone fell silent as he strolled to his desk, awkwardly staring back at the quiet classmates that gave him so much eye contact. Steadily, the silence was overcome by the small murmurs of whispering gossip.

"Alright, what the hell's going on? Why is everyone staring at me?" Sure enough the strawberry teen had been stared out so cumbersome before, but most of his class had been over that by now.

"Kurosaki-san?" A female student addressed to him, hushing the class as if wondering if she would dare to say it, "Are you going out with Inoue-san?" The squeals of delight were surpassed as they awaited his answer. His chocolate eyes turned to the auburn haired goddess before turning back to the class.

"Wha... Of course-"

"Of course we are!" I shouted, standing up. All eyes turned to me, including the questionable Ichigo's. I felt my heart beat strongly, I had no idea what I was doing, but I stayed strong. "I... and Ichigo-kun... are... going out. We're together, as a couple." I smiled to his shocked look and begun stepping up to him. My cheeks became rosy as my shaky arms reached out to him. His eyes stayed were I once stood as my arms wrapped themselves around his muscular body, creating many screams to be unleashed, including cries from the defeated men of the class.

I could feel his heart pump viciously inside his chest, just the same as mine. I kept my head on his gorgeous abdomen as my arms held tight around his back. _'The scent of Ichigo-kun...' _I could feel my insides warm up, his arms gradually placing themselves on top of my silky locks, gently getting tighter as his head dropped down onto my shoulder.

"Are we?" He whispered gently into my ear, "Does this mean you've accepted my confession?" I opened my eyes and stared into his close brown eyes.

"Yes... I guess I have." I smiled warmly. I could see the affection rise deeply through his eyes; they really were the doors to his soul.

"Alright students, to your seats please!" Our embrace was cut short as the sensei pushed through us, getting an annoyed scowl by, not only Ichigo, but me too. We stood next to each other as much as we could as we headed to our seats by the windows. _'I did it. I'm finally going out with Ichigo-kun!' _

"**You **really surprised me you know." Tatsuki spoke between bites of her onigiri, "I knew that you'd accept but, little shy Orihime-chan, standing up in front of the entire class and shouting it to the world? I didn't know you had it in you!" She ruffled my hair strongly, "You're growing up. Soon you won't need me for protection anymore!"

"Don't say that, Tatsuki-chan, I'll never not need you around, you're my best friend after all." My grin could challenge a Cheshire cat's from my level of happiness. I sat on the grassy land in the park and placed my arms behind me, allowing me to stare up to the cloudless afternoon bright sky.

"I didn't know I'd be able to do it, either. But, I have no regrets." I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warm breeze flow across my skin, "Hey, Tatsuki-chan?"

"Hm?" She scoffed down the last of her meal.

"You knew what Ichigo-kun was going to do, didn't you? That's why you walked off in front of us."

"Hm. Perhaps I did give him a little push before we met up with you, but I was just getting so impatient with you two. I didn't tell him to do it today, but I could tell by his face that he certainly was thinking about it." I giggled slightly, still keeping my eyes closed, until I heard Tatsuki's mysterious laugh. My eyes opened to a shadowy figure kneeling, his head over mine.

"Ah!" I screamed, falling back onto his lap, "Ichigo-kun? Don't scare me like that!" I pouted as he smiled lovingly. My fallen head stayed on his strong thighs as his manly hands pushed my unplaced locks away from my eyes.

"What you did in class today... I never realised you'd accept with such an audience." I half-smiled at his wonder and happiness.

"I was the one who couldn't wait forever." A fast kiss surprised me as it was placed on my glossy lips. _'The taste of Ichigo-kun...' _I loved everything about Ichigo. There wasn't one flaw about him, which made me wonder why such an amazing, gorgeous, sexy man was every interested in a klutz like me.

"Geez, you two. You have an audience you know, get a room!" Tatsuki teased, causing Ichigo to stop kissing me and lift his head up. Still, I had found my cosy place and remained were I was.

"Tell me if my head is heavy, Ichigo-kun, I'll move it."

"Didn't I once tell you before that you're not at all heavy?" _'I loved this relaxed side of Ichigo-kun. It was a side that not many got to witness. It really was the real Ichigo-kun though, the side that never had a burden to worry about, a side that showed his most handsome expression. This expression was relaxed, loved and so sexy. Wait, why am I calling Ichigo-kun sexy all of a sudden?' _The view I had of the sun placing its wondrous rays onto his shimmering eyes and glorious skin was a very much beautiful sight, but it was so different from the faces he ever made before. I had never seen this type of look on him, it made my heart stop in so much admiration. I tried to keep myself from stroking through his splendid unique hair, but resistance seemed impossible. My hand glided simply through it, letting me do the touch I had wishfully wanted to do ever since we kissed on the park bench. He stopped his talk with Tatsuki and admirably stared back to me.

**I couldn't **believe what I was seeing. My beloved Hime. She said yes. I was finally going out with the girl I had been chasing for so long, even if it was unintentionally at first. The view I had was divine. Her radiant hair flowed neatly down the sides of her glossy face, her face shadowed lovingly under mine as her eyes stared wonderfully into mine. Those shimmering starry grey eyes. They had to be her very best feature. I wasn't like the other guys who would have mentioned about her breasts, I found her eyes much more enjoyable. Much more beautiful. Her hand blissfully ran down the side of my orange locks, sending pleasuring shivers down my spine.

"You're so beautiful, Ichigo-kun." She whispered carefully. I noticed that her cute blush didn't reach her face this time, was it now that she wasn't embarrassed to say such things to me anymore?

"There's nothing that could compare to your beauty though." I whispered back. I was really being out of character, but around Orihime, my emotions always ran wild. The things I had always wanted to tell her was all coming out. I hadn't felt so loved, so secure since my mother had died. Orihime acted so much like her, perhaps that's why I was always so protective over her, perhaps that's also why I fell in love with her. I grabbed the flowing hand into my large one and just grazed my orbs into hers. Neither of us had noticed Tatsuki smile and walk off, neither of us noticed anything but each other.

"Are we like a real family to you now?" She giggled, obviously enjoying the idea.

"Yeah, we are. Where is Safaia anyway?"

"Wasn't Kurosaki-san taking care of her?"

"Oh, right." _'My idiot old man. At least, since he's raised three children, he should at least be able to care for her.'_ Orihime smiled once again and brought her head up, kissing my cheeks, then my lips graciously.

**The **brilliant sunset passed down over the houses as we walked, hand-in-hand, to my house, ready to collect 'our' daughter. I was intoxicated by my beautiful princess's scent and ended up not realising that we were standing outside my front door. I slowly unlocked it and brought her in.

"I'm home." I announced.

"Ichigo!" A flying kick was quickly blocked and the old annoying man was thrown towards the floor.

"Ah! Daddy, mean daddy! You hurt granddaddy!" The angry angelic girl stood behind the fallen body, dressed up sweetly in a tiny nurse costume.

"_Grand-_daddy?" I asked turning to Orihime. She shrugged slightly, implying that she didn't know about that either.

"Safaia." Orihime smiled to her, creating a wide spread grin on the child's face.

"Mama!" She instantly jumped over to her mother and hugged her tight, poking her tiny tongue at me before giving me a cross look.

"What did I do?" I asked questionably and confused.

"You hurt granddaddy." She pouted. Her tiny pout was so much like Orihime's; it was adorable, even if she was trying to act cross. I placed a hand on her head, making her struggle with keeping the chubby pout before giggling.

"Is this any way for a son to treat his father? Oh, Masuki! Our son is so mean to me and..." He babbled before stopping to look at Orihime.

"Good evening, Kurosaki-san." She bowed politely.

"...And he has such a beautiful young lady with him. How could you like my punk of a son, my dear wonderful daughter?" She laughed as he addressed her.

"Kurosaki-san, was Safaia behaving while she was here?" The elderly Kurosaki turned a little more serious as he walked us into the living room.

"Yes, she was an angel! It's been so long since I had the pleasure of taking care of a young child once again. I'm so glad you've let me while you're at school, it's a privilege." He smiled whole heartedly.

"Thank you. I'm sorry for troubling you with her though, I know you're busy with the clinic, but-"

"It's not troubling at all! We were playing all day, and when I did need to work in the clinic, she was helping me!"

"**Helping?" **I replied curiously. _'A two year old being able to help like that? She's learning too fast, it's getting scary. A normal two year old shouldn't be able to do that sort of thing.' _

"How old is Safaia, anyway? Five, six?" He grinned to me and Ichigo. We turned to each other, questionably.

"She's two." Ichigo answered for me.

"Two? No, that can't be right, are you sure?" The older Kurosaki's face dropped.

"I've been worrying about her growth rate actually. In just over a month, she's grown at least two more years older than when I found her. Could this be down to her spiritual pressure?" Isshin suddenly turned into a completely new character, studying the playing child with his dark eyes as she fiddled with her pigtails.

"No, it's not likely to be her spiritual pressure, maybe, when you both are at school, I'll take her down to Urahara. He'll be able to find out." I gave a worried expression to my new boyfriend, letting him reassure me with a nod of comfort, along with an arm sliding along my back, to my shoulder.

"Okay, Kurosaki-san, thank you. I need to go now, however, so I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodbye, my dear child." He turned back to his bubbly nature and sat down while I walked back to the front door.

"I'll walk you home."

"Eh? There's no need, Ichigo-kun, I'll be fine-"

"No way! I don't trust the streets around here, they're full of thugs, and I'm walking you home." I blushed and understood that there was no point in arguing over Ichigo's protective nature. I didn't mind though, it meant even more time with my beloved on such a perfect day.

**Well, something weird is going on with Safaia's growth on a negative side, but, on a plus side, ICHIGO AND ORIHIME ARE GOING OUT TOGETHER AS A COUPLE! XD I told you you'd love this chapter, no? Thank you for reading my beautiful souls, I'll see you when I get over the next writer's block 0_0.**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	20. Emotions

_****_**Yo! It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry! Thank you to reviewers, I hope you'll still like me after this chapter.**

_**PLEASE READ! I need to warn you before you begin this chapter that there are some distressing things further in. If you do not want to read, then please turn back now! You have been warned.**_

**I woke** up to find myself in an unusually large grin as I was brought out of my unconscious state. Why was I grinning? I finally won Orihime's heart and affection. I could say that she was my girlfriend, and no one was about to take that luxury away from me. Her beautiful auburn hair was pounding in my mind, her gorgeous grey eyes soothing my heart graciously; and she was in love with me. I was in love with her. I thought everything would feel the same as before, whether we were going out or not, man was I wrong. It was a million times better than that. I felt I was going to burst at any point. Little did I ever think that someone like me could ever endure these emotions, it just seemed too odd for me to ever know what they felt like. But I'm glad that I found out. How I found out was the best way too. I couldn't describe what I was feeling at the time; all I knew was that it made my stomach flutter and a ball form in my throat, yet I was at the brim of happiness.

I turned to check the time; 7:00. Time to get ready for school. Quickly I regained my usual scowl, but just couldn't hold it at all, I was way too happy to have a straight face. Fastly I had gotten myself ready in my usual school uniform and walked down the stairs towards the kitchen, tasting the sweet smell of Yuzu's cooking on the way.

"Good morning, Onii-chan!"

"Good morning."

"Morning, Ichi-nii."

"ICHIGO!" The manic man jumped towards his only son with a foot in the air, only to be pushed back away by said son. Suddenly, the old man's ranting sparked about how his son no longer loves him, causing argument between all the children. However, Yuzu quickly calmed everyone down in order for them to begin eating their breakfast.

I stood and watched everyone settle before taking a place in front of Karin and picking up the plate of omelette to devour. As I ate, my eyes wondered over to my family, and I noticed all of them staring at me.

"What? Is something wrong?" I questioned them.

"Ichi-nii, are you okay?" Karin replied.

"Yes, I'm fine. Why?" I was getting a little agitated now, still not understanding why they were acting strange.

"Your smiling, son! What's happened to that obnoxious scowl you usually wear?"

"I'm smiling? Is that why you're all staring at me?" _'What's wrong with that? Do I really scowl that much?' _Their nods answered me quickly. Karin was the first to look back down to her meal before talking again.

"Is it a girl?" She plainly stated more than asked.

"What?" Yuzu unintentionally shouted, "Onii-chan has a girlfriend?"

"Well he is grown up, Yuzu; you should expect Ichi-nii to bring home girlfriends."

"K-Karin!" I could feel my face redden slightly. _'Dad's defiantly teaching them his ways!'_ I grabbed my breakfast once again to try to ignore the comments. For once, dad was too quiet and serious, but all changed as a proud smirk horribly formed onto his annoying face.

"It's Inoue-san, isn't it?" I started to chock on the piece of food I had; how did he guess so easily? Am I that easy to read?

"Onii-chan! Are you okay?" Yuzu came rushing to my side and begun patting on my back. My throat cleared once again, and my angry scowl faced towards my old man.

"Yes, alright! I'm going out with Orihime-san, happy old man?" I stated to him. Even Karin moved back in shock at my words.

"Yes, I am happy! Yet confused..."

"Confused?" I asked plainly, yet inwardly wondering why he was confused.

"Why would someone as beautiful, bright and kind as her go out with an idiot punk like you?" My fist met his mouth straight away. Damn he knew how to ruin my good mood! Hopefully it would shut him up.

"Dad, you should be kinder to Onii-chan, perhaps then he'd stop hitting you." Yuzu sat back down, ignoring the rants of pain he kept yelling about.

"I'm leaving now." I began to make my way to the door in a sour mood as I heard my sisters say their goodbyes. _'At least Orihime-san would cheer me up.' _ But then again, just the thought had set my insides calm, and readjusted the smile I held earlier today.

"**Ichigo." **I turned to the familiar bold voice that called my name. I grinned in the lofty man's presence and held up my hand for a small wave.

"It's been a while, Chad." His stroll quickened slightly to reach my pace, "How was Mexico?"

"Fine." That was basically the most of our conversation as we headed towards the school. I had gotten used to the silent giant by now; he only used his words when needed. Suddenly, we crossed separate ways as I turned a corner as the shaggy brown haired began to cross the road. He became quickly confused and pointed over the direction he was heading.

"Ichigo, where are you heading? School is that way." I looked back over my shoulder, silently confused myself. The thought came to me fastly as I absent-mindedly scratched the side of my chin.

"Ah, that's right, you haven't been here. You've missed quite a lot. Come on, I'll tell you on the way." Again, I headed in my direction, casually placing my hand back into my pocket. I heard his footsteps quicken into a jog to catch back to me.

"Wait, where are we going?" I turned to him and smirked.

"We're going to Orihime-san's."

"Inoue's...?"

**My hand **reached up to my eyes to block the carefree sun while I stared up to the graceful beauty.

"Ah! Ichigo-kun, I'll be right down!" She shouted from the balcony, "Oh! Good morning, Sado-kun!"

"Morning, Inoue." She raced down quickly, hair bouncing crazily behind with a wide, sparkly smile begging for admiration. How beautiful she was. And she was mine. I watched her subtle feet gently land onto the floor, followed by much small subtle feet sprinting up to me.

"DADDY!" I lowered down and opened my broad arms. How this tiny tot could brighten my day so easily was indescribable. But then again, so was her mother. Each time I turned to see her amazing grey eyes, my stomach would drop once again. I really was head-over-heels in love with Orihime. Safaia's little arms wrapped around my neck, signalling me to stretch up once again to my natural height and place my arm around her body. Orihime also, more slowly, walked up to me, placing her gorgeous body in my free arm. I kissed the top of her head gently and let her go. Something quickly grabbed my attention in the corner of my chocolate eye.

"Oh yeah... Chad, this is Safaia. She's Orihime's... well... and my, child." I didn't know if it was right to say something like that, but, judging by Orihime's slight giggle, I'd guess she didn't object. The shocked expression on Chad's face was laughable, but I kept my composure. He didn't say a word; he was still getting used to everything. Safaia reached out an arm from my neck and waved to the giant, giggling playfully.

"Hello... Chaddy-chan!" She mused, letting her cheeks go red through her laughter. Chad relaxed a little bit and begun stepping towards the child. Slowly, his head moved down to her level, but his facial expression didn't change from his normal straight look.

"Hello... Safaia...-san." He smiled to the giggly girl and patted her head, straightening up once again.

"Orihime-san, isn't Tatsuki coming today? She's usually here by now." She turned to me with her great bright eyes.

"Hm? Tatsuki? Oh! Yeah, Tatsuki has an important thing at Karate today, so she's coming into school late today." She smiled sweetly and begun walking off into the direction of the nursery. Something seemed a little off about her today. _'She's a bit distracted... Did something happen? No, I must be imagining things.' _I shook off the uneasy feeling and placed the bubbly girl back down.

"Let's get going."

'_**Explain the **__process of biotechnology used to modify bacteria for...medication...Explain...bacteria...Wait...This feeling ... Oh no, not now!' _My sixth sense tingled with frustration as the familiar sensation of a hollow flowed into me. As usual, I threw my pen down and headed out of the door, followed by Ishida, Chad and Orihime.

"Wait! Where the hell do you think you four are going? Get back here!" We heard the sensei shout after us. None of us answered back, the feeling was too strong to ignore; too strong to slow down and make up an excuse. _'There's more than just one... two... five... perhaps about ten... Maybe more. It shouldn't need to take all of us, but something feels different... but what?' _

"Ichigo-kun, can you feel that?" I kept running, listening to Orihime's words on the way.

"Yeah, but what is it?" In the corner of my eye, I could see her concerned face turn to me, so I returned the gesture with a more confused look. Suddenly, her eyes became wide, her pupils constricting into small dots.

"Oh no!" She screamed, making all of us turn to her.

"Orihime, what's wrong? Orihime!" She sped up, suddenly darting quickly down the corridor.

"Orihime!" I shouted after her. _'Damn, she's going too fast; I can't keep up!'_ Without much choice, I followed using shunpo while Ishida and Chad remained behind.

"Orihime, tell me what's happened!" I tried getting through to her, seeing a high amount of distress plastered over her shaky body.

"I-Ichigo, th-the hollows... th-they're..." She kept breaking her sentences down, making me more apprehensive with each word she enforced out.

"Orihime, please, what's going on?" Her distraught eyes travelled to mine, making an empty pit fall in my stomach, something was defiantly wrong.

"They're coming from the nursery!"

My world stopped. The nursery? Please don't tell me it's true. No, it can't be true. She's safe, I know she's safe. My body felt numb, but I knew I had picked up my pace instantly. Safaia, please be safe, please don't let it be true. I reached over to Orihime and grabbed her tensed shoulder, dragging her into my body before holding her waist. We needed to get there fast. I used my shunpo to jump out of a nearby window and travel to the scene of one of my worst nightmares. Safaia, please be safe. Be safe. I promised Orihime I'd take care of you, I promised myself that I wouldn't let you get hurt. Thunderous clouds reached above us, shooting down the intense bullets of rain. I didn't let it affect my quest to the nursery, I needed to be there.

But I wish I wasn't. The entire school was in shambles. Children screaming, parents flooding into the horrific sight of the tremendous rumble pile. Hollows swarmed everywhere, there had to be at least fifty. I could see the entire chaos, unlike those of no spiritual pressure. It was horrendous. No longer did colour fly off the walls, but a black and white mess fallen under the pelting rain. I wanted to throw up. There was blood of children, blood of teachers. My arms felt as if they were going to drop off as my body wanted to fall forward. I tried closing my eyes, wishing it all away, but they refused to turn away from the shambles. Hollow screams reached our ears, making me turn back to the reality. I scanned my eyes franticly for my child, yet again, my eyes failed to do as I pleaded. More terrified screams of isolated screams fell upon me and Orihime's ears. I made my decision. The hollows needed to be taken care of first.

Jumping out of my mortal body, I charged into action, heading straight for a young boy held up in a hollow's fist. Facing the hollows certainly wasn't a problem; I could take them out almost instantly, it was the innocent children and parents that flooded the area that was the problem. I had to maintain myself in order to keep them safe. The little boy's screams faded as he was knocked unconscious through the pain. I sliced through the black scales for the lizard-like monster, letting the boy drop out of its hated palm. My instincts told me to grab him straight away before he hit the concrete floor and place him down gently. _'Why a nursery, these are helpless children!' _I was angry. Never had I had to deal with the attack of so many children. And worst of all, children who were still alive. I was sick to the stomach. My rage went straight threw the hollows body, cutting it in half and draining it away.

**Orihime** jumped straight into action. Even without Tsubaki, she was determined to stop the many hollows that roamed. Her heart stayed in the game but her mind was set to find her daughter. But, without the sharp objects she had used before to destroy hollows, she was practically useless. She knew her strength was no match; her human body could only take her so far. But still her determination had set in. There's no way she'd let herself become useless, not again! Her glossy grey orbs found another source of danger, a young teacher cornered. Little did she understand the danger she was in, but her leg was obviously broken, leaving her unable to move from her precarious spot.

"Wh-what are these things? S-Somebody, help me, please!" She screamed, tears forming in her eyes. Her body was trembling with fear. She could see the hollows. One of the creatures screeched, making the helpless woman flinch in her dread of death. Orihime couldn't watch her suffer. Battling the odds, she jumped in front of the paralyzed dame, not letting her resolve falter. Her leg swiftly kicked down on the oncoming monster, making it fall to her feet. Quickly she forced her fists fastly into its disgusting mask, doing all she could to penetrate it. Tiny, ineffective cracks formed over the monster, chipping slowly from the oncoming fists. But it wasn't enough. It turned to Orihime, opening its mouth and jumping to her. Orihime quickly dodged the attack and jumped to safety. Her eyes shot open again as she noticed the hollow go back to the woman. What could she do? There was no way she could reach it in time to save her; she had been pushed back to far. Terror swarmed over the auburn haired princess, her mind searched for an answer, but nothing turned up. There was little time. Her mind was blank for answers, yet still she screamed for something.

"Shiten Kōshun!" She voiced unintentionally. The trio of her fairies created a different, pyramid shield in front of the woman, with a small fourth fairy held distinctively inside before shooting forth through the hollow's mask.

"W-What was that?" She asked no-one. Her own body shocked from the new motion she had suddenly found. All four of the smaller creatures fly back to their mistress.

"Yo. It's been a while." The tiny irritated masked man said crossing his arms coolly.

"Ts-Tsubaki?"

**I watched **the blue lightning arrows pierce through the monster I was fighting, indicating that Ishida had finally joined the chaos. Chad's shouts grew high over the shouts of the hollows as the numbers became less and less. It wasn't long before all four of us had cleared the area, thankfully. Closing the last of my fight, I left to find my body, as well as my daughter. I carefully re-entered my human frame and ran up to the terrified children huddled together. Safaia had to be with them. But, no young girl ran up to me, Safaia wasn't among them. Quickly I escorted them to a safer distance away from the rubble of their nursery. _'Where is she?"_

"Safaia!" I shouted to the top of my voice, "Safaia!" Still no reply. _'Please be safe. Maybe she's with one of the teachers.' _I sprinted over to the crowd of parents, finding my girls teacher centred in it.

"Mrs. Anini!" My voice croaked as I saw her horrified look.

"Mr. Kurosaki!"

"Where's Safaia?" I search desperately for the sapphire eyed tot.

"I-I'm sorry, Mr. Kurosaki, we haven't found her yet, along with another student." My eyes strained, my breathing becoming shallow.

"N-No! Safaia, where is she?" I became panic-stricken, grabbing onto the old woman's collar, "How could you let her disappear, we trusted you to keep her safe!" I shouted in her face, unaware of my own actions.

"Ichigo-kun let her go!" My grip faltered as my hand was pulled away by Orihime. Her eyes were showing that she was also fearful, but her body showed that what I was doing wasn't the right way to go through it, "Ichigo-kun, I'm worried too, but you can't take it out on Mrs. Anini, there's another thirty children here!"

"I-I'm sorry." I couldn't form my words; I wasn't used to Orihime standing up against me.

"Let's go find her." I could feel her spiritual pressure rise to try and feel Safaia's. Her eyes slowly closed in order to concentrate. AS few moments passed before her eyes shot open once again, "Over there!" She pointed to the east. Our legs moved fastly in that direction, hoping with all our hearts for the safety of our child.

"**There** she is!" I pointed out. She knelt over a fallen object, her hands shaking it as she called out.

"Tia... Tia, wake up... Tia..." Safaia's tears rolled off her nose onto the small body of the blonde little toddler.

"Oh, please no." Orihime begged. This was a child. A small, innocent child. As we got closer, we could see the slash on her back. A slash of a sword.

"Safaia." Orihime called shakily.

"Mama." Safaia cried. Orihime ran up to her, getting on her knees to hug her.

"Are you alright honey?" She croaked out.

"Mama, Tia... Tia..." The brown haired child choked. Orihime let go of Safaia, holding her pins from her front pocket.

"Sōten Kisshun." She whispered, allowing the small body to become covered by the orange shield. I walked up to both of them, holding Safaia as Orihime tried to heal her. I could tell by the shocking expression over Orihime's face that it wasn't going to help. She tried for ages, just trying to heal the tiny girl's slash to bring her life back to her.

"I-It's no use. Her body's been cut with spiritual pressure, I-I can't... I mean... I..." Orihime's tears formed in her eyes, "It's just a child... Who would do such a thing? She was just a child..." I held onto both Safaia and Orihime as their emotions got to the best of them. It was hard to keep my own emotions at bay. This was the last thing I would have ever wanted to see. _'I could have protected her. If only I didn't hesitated in the first place... I could of...' _I gritted my teeth and held my eyes closed. _'She was still a baby, the same age as Safaia! Who is sick and twisted enough to do something like this?' _

"Oh my god!" I heard a parent scream as they headed over.

"That's... That's... No, please, oh god no! Please, Tia! Tia!" A young woman ran over to the fallen girl, screaming, "No, Tia, no!" Her fears led to the worst as she fell in tears over her child, "My baby, my poor baby!" She cried. I couldn't bear to watch; I wanted to throw up. I closed my eyes, but the drastic sounds of her tears still penetrated my ears. _'Whoever did this would pay.' _I could keep up the facade anymore. A few streaks of tears left my eyes. _'Orihime said she was cut by spiritual pressure, that... that could mean... the Yuuna Kasumi?' _I grinded my teeth, I knew she was sick to begin with, but killing a child? How would that help her get to us? I held on tighter to Safaia and Orihime; I didn't want to let them go. How could she be so sick to do this?

**I know, I'm REALLY horrible. It is sad and I didn't know if I should do this or not, but it's just to progress the story. I also know that last chapter was really happy and all and now I've done this, but I did warn you. Please don't kill me. I promise I'll be a little easier on you next time if I don't loose you. I think I better change the rating a bit.**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	21. Farewell to all I know

**Hello dear readers! How are you today? I'm sorry to say this but I fear this may be my shortest chapter to date with my longest time of neglect. I really wish the chapters would come to me sooner but I'm not that smart. I hope you enjoy this next chapter after the last one being quite sad, and please review for me!**

**saveme58: I do know about her abilities but the reason why she couldn't heal her will be revealed in further chapters, it's one of the rare times I actually think about what and why before I write.**

**sakemori: *holds up hands* I'm trying! Please don't hurt me! :P**

**FreakingOutGirl: Yes I was actually planning on doing a scene like that ^_^ and thank you for lifting me up on the imperfect world issue, it was the sort of thing I was trying to show.**

**Thank you to my reviewers for being so wonderful!**

"**How** are you holding up?" I spoke gently down the phone. She hadn't turned up for school today; I just wanted to make sure she was okay without me.

"I'm still a little shaken, but I'll be alright for now. I'd rather just be alone right now." She whispered tiredly back. I could tell that she didn't sleep much last night through the sound of her croaky voice. If I remembered correctly, she had never witnessed a death like that. The last death she had seen was Ulquiorra's. Even then she was on the verge of tears, even though he was the enemy.

"Okay then. What about Safaia? Is she okay too?"

"She hasn't gotten out of bed; she said she felt a little unwell."

"Oh... Are you sure you don't want me to come over to keep you company? I can easily just skip last lessons; you're much more important."

"No, please, it's fine. I'll be fine, Ichigo-kun, but, what about you?" I wasn't feeling too well myself, perhaps I was still in shock too. I constantly blamed myself for what happened. Why did I hesitate? It was as if I had never seen a scene like that, yet I knew I had. Why...?

"I'm okay." I heard the obnoxious ringing of the school bell deafen in my ears, "I have to go now. I... I love you, Orihime. Please, if I can do anything to make you feel better, let me know, okay?"

"Okay, Ichigo-kun, I love you too." I smiled loosely and turned the small object off, placing it back into my pocket. Looking over the roof of the school, I saw the wonders of Karakura instantly shining under the beauty of a basking sun. How could something look so peaceful when it contained such horrifying carnage hidden away in the brisk of it? A saddened glance fell over my tired eyes; sometimes it felt like I needed to leave a place like that. Everything was hidden away in shadows here. But how could I tie myself away? I was needed here to protect everyone, not to let them all be lifted away by the monstrous creatures that held their presence far from the hopeless, spiritless humans. I turned away, placing my hands deep into my blazer pockets and headed over to class.

**A gentle** calming breeze flew through the small gap in the window, trying it's best to calm the nervous girl who lay tearful in her tiny cot. Her tiny cries brought a stabbing sensation through my weary heart with every little splutter and cough she choked up. I did everything I could to stay strong next to her. She had lost her very first friend at such a young age – she couldn't understand why she felt this way. I stroked her soft brown locks and kissed her forehead, letting her know that I was still there, that she wasn't alone. A small buzzing noise caught my attention, causing me to pick up my phone once again from my pocket to check the message I had just received.

**Inoue-san, I am sorry for what you and Safaia-san had gone through, but I have some information I need to discuss with you because of yesterday's incident. When you are emotionally stable once again, please could you bring Safaia-san and yourself to my shop – Urahara**

**Take all the time you need.**

Once again, I closed my phone and placed it back. Whatever Urahara needed to discuss surely could wait. There were some things I needed answers to as well; why couldn't I heal Tia? Why did the hollows attack the nursery in the first place? Safaia's spiritual pressure is too low to attract so many, even Ichigo-kun's hadn't ever attracted that many. I needed answers; but to bring Safaia, I had to wait until she was calmer.

Her cries slowed down carefully into a halt, making her sore eyes open and stare strangely at me.

"Mama..." She softy mumbled as loose tears streamed down her soft cheeks.

"Sh, I'm here, I'm here." I whispered picking her and cradling her gently.

"Mama, I'm sorry..." She cried.

"Wh-What for? There isn't anything you've done wrong; it's okay to feel this way."

"... I'm sorry... daddy..." She drifted off in the warmth of my arms with the droplets still passing through her tender eyes.

"What did you do to daddy?" I asked only to be replied with the careful sorrowful breathing. The small thought pounded at me as a rocked the gentle baby in my arms.

**Strolling **down the pitted path, no thought entered my burned mind, no emotion passed through, no action occurred; I was just nothing. A harsh mist plagued the streets eyes to keep the secrets of the horrors and mysteries away from any careless pass-byres, but still the mist didn't keep away the familiar resiteu that touched the sixth sense of mine. They may have been at the scene now, but why the hell wasn't they there when the attack was going on? I felt my mouth twitch into a saddened scowl.

I climbed over the distorted rumble with a dejected slump movement to find the spiritual pressure of the first shinigami that crossed my path. As the mystery figure started to sharpen through the foggy atmosphere, my anger built with every step I took. It needed letting out, and the first person I was going to speak to was going to be the victim. I was only a few steps away from said person when I stopped completely. My anger had already just washed away as I stared at the back of her head. She didn't turn around, but I knew that she had sensed me coming already.

"We're sorry, Ichigo." Rukia had a regretted tonne stuck in her denominative voice, "There was nothing on the scanners that told us about this attack, even our shinigami on patrol here hadn't sensed, nor seen the attack. It wasn't until after the damage was done and you had destroyed the hollows did anything turn up." She turned to me with her emotionless violet eyes staring straight into my mind.

"Why? Why didn't the scanners show it? There were about fifty here... in a nursery... Safaia's nursery." I dropped my head; I couldn't bare the memories, I was grateful for the mist blocking the area out of my mind but the memories remained.

"We had a similar problem in the past, but I only know about it through the elder captains. Ichigo," I stared back up to her turned figure, "Kyoraku-taicho told us about the Yuuna Kasumi."

"You have suspicions that it may be her doing?" I didn't need to ask, a part of me already knew.

"Yes, but something doesn't add up: If it was her black mist that stopped the scanners and the shinigami from seeing the attack, you are the only one who had seen a picture of her, so you should have been the only one who could have seen the attack in the first place. So why could Ishida, Orihime and Sado see too? Did you take the picture and show them?"

"N-No, the picture was with a criminal file in the library, I couldn't have taken it. Anyway, I haven't told Ishida or Chad about this. I can't understand why either. Could she have gotten stronger powers after she got out of prison?"

"The captain commander placed her in a secret location; she didn't escape."

"But what if she had escaped from the secret location?" I challenged. She remained silent, giving me the impression that they had not already checked the location.

"I'll speak to Ukitake-taicho and see if we can request an audience with the captain commander, but for now we need to analyse this scene. I think that you should talk to Soi Fon taicho about what happened." I nodded and made my way to the next resiteu.

**My eyes shot **open to the unpleasant ringing of the doorbell, shaking my limbs horribly out of their relaxed state on the settee. I placed my legs down to the ground and headed over to the door.

"Tatsuki-chan?" I rubbed my eyes tiredly as she wondered in.

"You didn't turn up for school, so I was just wondering if something was wrong." She pointed out. A doleful glance replied her, making her return my gaze with a worriful, wondering glance. She led me back to the sofa and patted next to her, silently telling me to sit down.

"Tell me what happened."

**The flickers of **the lamppost lights lightened the dark misty streets ghastly. I passed a hand through my short orange locks and thought deeply about everything that had happened, not just of the attack yesterday, but of the entire situation since the beginning. Everything seemed to be missing a link that just wasn't going to be found.

My thoughts were cut by the swift footsteps of someone running towards me. They were gasping as hard as they could as the speed of the steps quickened to a sprint. I looked up to the oncoming figure, noticing the familiar black hair and punk-rock attire she wore. Her head was down yet still she ran, pale faced.

"Ta-"I stared, yet she sprinted straight pass me.

"Tatsuki!" I shouted back, hoping she'd stop, but she didn't. I ran after her, dreading what she, one of the strongest women I've ever known, could be running from. I shunpo-ed to her side and ran next to her.

"Tatsuki, what's going on? Why are you running?" I shouted into her ear.

"S-She's after me, Ichigo, help me!" She shouted back between breaths.

"After you? Who is-"I turned around and stopped in shock. I felt my own face pale as I stared straight into the source of Tatsuki's fear.

The black mist was trailing up behind her.

Without hesitation I caught back up with her. My arms wrapped around the frightened teen and carried her quickly away with shunpo. My instincts brought me outside Urahara's, begging that the doors were not closed. I dropped her back down.

"Go inside, now!" I pointed to the doors, receiving a small nod from her before she sprinted towards the shop. Thankfully, she entered swiftly and safely. I could trust that Urahara would keep her safe.

I turned to the descending ball of darkness and stood my ground; this was going to end now. I jumped out of my human frame and wielded my Zangetsu firmly, awaiting the mist to pass over to me. But it didn't. Instead it stopped opposite me, gradually becoming smaller before revealing the horrific murderer that hid away inside.

She was no longer the look of a fifteen year old, but twice the age. Her lion mane locks drew down her shinigami uniform back, a zanpactou resting on the left side of her hip. She was the same height as April with the same length hair, giving a shadow impression of her which Orihime had first fallen for, but that was the only thing that resembled our first suspicion. Her eyes bleed of a diamond white, passionately glowing with killing intentions. Her scowl could intimidate anyone who stared, including myself, but still I didn't budge.

"Kurosawa Kurami."

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Why are you after Tatsuki?" I quickly asked, expecting a straight answer from the demon.

"Hm," She smirked, "Straight to the point I see. Well, Kurosaki Ichigo, if you defeat me, I'll tell you my purpose. But let me ask, why do you want to protect her?"

"Because she is my friend, and I won't let you harm any of my friends." The smirk on her face changed back to the scowl she wore not long ago.

"Tsk, the same answer as the fucking quincy! You know its people like you who really piss me off!" She grabbed the handle of her zanpactou and jumped into my range, "Let's settle this now!"

**MWHAHAHA CLIFF HANGERS! :) I'm evil am I not? Being that it's a fight coming up, it may be easier for me to write. The thing about Tatsuki, I don't think it's very out of character for her right now since she did almost get killed by her last time. - I'd certainly run if I was in that situation - ;) Please review and I'll try and have the next chapter up by the beginning of next month.**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	22. The battles begin

**Yo! I'm back with chapter 22 and I managed to upload on the due date! (I actually just write it today lol - I only had half done after uploading the last chapter!) I want to go through the usual things; Thank you to my reviewers/favourites etc. I am not kidding when I say that I love you all ^^ anywayz, please enjoy this chapter! (It is ALL Ichigo's POV) Some of it may not make sense but I really suck at fight scenes so I hope that I've done okay.** **If there's anything anyone can tell me to help my fight scenes, please PM me :) It'll DEFINATLY be appreciated!**

"_Kurosawa Kurami."_

"_Kurosaki Ichigo." _

"_Why are you after Tatsuki?" I quickly asked, expecting a straight answer from the demon._

"_Hm," She smirked, "Straight to the point I see. Well, Kurosaki Ichigo, if you defeat me, I'll tell you my purpose. But let me ask, why do you want to protect her?"_

"_Because she is my friend, and I won't let you harm any of my friends." The smirk on her face changed back to the scowl she wore not long ago._

"_Tsk, the same answer as the fucking quincy! You know its people like you who really piss me off!" She grabbed the handle of her zanpactou and jumped into my range, "Let's settle this now!"_

**Our swords** clashed into sparks of fury, forcing the strength in our bodies to be challenged against each other. My persuasiveness quickly made her retreat into a safer distance in order to analyse the situation she had brought, allowing me to invade into her distracted focus. I was determined to finish this fastly; I needed Orihime, Tatsuki, Safaia, everyone to be safe once again. I swung Zangetsu into the darkness behind me, creating the spiritual influence of a black power and breaking into a further speed to catch her before she could react. However, my attack was caught as she used her own magnolia resiteu to swiftly break my pressure apart. It greatly tightened around the blade, allowing no movement to alter its power. With her resiteu allow grasping my sword, the hilt of her zanpactou flung into my side, ceasing my grip on the handle to slacken. Quickly Zangetsu was taken out of my grasp as her leg flew into a round-house kick to my side. I was pushed aside into the near-by building and creating a creator in my wake.

I was shocked of her decent amount of strength for an unseated ex-shinigami, but then I remembered exactly why she was an ex; she had killed hundreds of shinigami. I lifted myself up as quickly as I could, frantically searching around for Zangetsu, only to find nothing. _'Just like Orihime and Tsubaki...' _Was it her who took him away from Orihime at the time with the mod soul in the hospital? I didn't have time to think about it, I needed a weapon against this woman. Her sudden appearance caught me off guard as she shunpo-ed underneath my feet, kneeling me in the stomach and forcing me up once again.

"Come on, Kurosaki! I thought you were much stronger than this!" She manically laughed, "At least that Tatsuki woman put up a bit of a fight!" The taunts angered me incredibly; there was no way I was going to be stepped on so easily. I gripped my fists tight as she sped my way once again, this time ready for her attack. I flipped in mid-air and sped down into a collision with her; I was left with no choice but hand-to-hand combat. I knew I could be at a disadvantage since she supposedly knows Karate, but I also had lessons as a child, now they would come in handy. I shouted to help my speed and strength, fastly punching into the colliding woman's surprised face. Direct hit. She gripped the air to try and stop her from falling too far and laughed as she wiped the blood from her nose.

"Nice shot, Kurosaki, that's much more like it. Too bad though, you wouldn't get a chance like that twice." I stood high above her fallen body, not saying a word against her remarks. I stared down at her, focusing carefully on what her next move would be, only for a small glimmer of light reflecting on metal catching my eye behind her hair. My scowl deepened to gritting teeth as I realised that Zangetsu was on her cursive back. How was I going to get Zangetsu back?

Her sudden disappearance caught my attention assertively, demanding my sixth sense to quickly locate the monstrous woman who had challenged me. Behind me. I turned fastly to cover my back. Her shadow figure was reflected off of the luminous moon as it stood highly above me, luring me into its dark abyss of hell. I sped towards her, she sped towards me, it was the final test of our pure strength as our fists reached out to a collision course. The force of our spiritual pressure caused an implosion in the darken night sky, spreading far and wide, but luckily enough too high to reach the tops of innocent homes of families that should not be caught up in the entire affair.

We were both pushed into our sacralised pressure, forcing as much as we could to challenge the opponents. I was losing. Her spiritual pressure rose greatly, pushing me down slowly but surely. I tried to reach for my zanpactou behind her back; she blocked. I counter kicked to her side; her knee stopped my kick. My chances of winning were slowly fading as I suddenly felt tiredness form over me. I tried to keep my eyes open, suddenly realising my resiteu lowering against hers. My limbs felt heavy... my eyes slowly turning black... what was happening...?... I did everything to keep myself from falling to this lowly sinner yet my actions did not form... neither did my words...

I felt a pressuring pain shoot up my body from my stomach. My lungs, throat and mouth filled with the cursive taste of metallic blood that began to stain down my chin. I had finally opened my eyes in pure shock of pain.

Her sword was soaked from the blood that shot from my gut. When did she even draw it? I fell back, heading straight to the concrete fifty foot below me, cursing in my mind since no words drew out of my voice.

Is this where I was going to die? It couldn't be there was no way I'd die so quickly! I need to get up, I must stop her! But my limbs were numb with pain. I turned to face my arm; I hadn't noticed to gash that was oozing with blood across my forearm. The same with my other arm, and the thighs on my legs. When did they happen? What is with her speed... why didn't she use it during hand-to-hand combat? I prepared myself for the painful crash against the pavement, awaiting and wincing for an event that didn't occur.

"Santen Kesshun!" A familiar beautiful voice appeared. The orange shower of her shield formed under my body, letting me down gently instead of the harsh fall to the concrete floor. As I came to view of the face I turned and smiled my appreciation, only to see her grey orbs fixed onto the opponent in the sky.

"Sōten Kisshun." She said coldly, not taking her eyes off of the lion of the moonlight sky. The flower fairies changed position and placed their healing skills over me; determine to get my body back to its original state.

"...Why?" Orihime asked to nothingness, "Why did you attack Tatsuki-chan? And Ishida-kun? And now, Ichigo-kun?" She looked straight into my attacker's eyes, not breaking her resolve for a split second, "What is it you want from us? What have we done?" She screamed at her, but not fazing the cold-blooded woman at all. I could feel Orihime's anger boiling. She was trembling at her own determination to kill the woman before her.

"Nothing." Kurami replied in a matter of fact tone.

"What did you say?" Orihime asked, unclear if she had heard her right or not.

"Nothing. Neither you, nor Ichigo have done anything to me but keep me from Tatsuki. She's the one I need."

"... But why?" Orihime did her best to keep herself from breaking into a pit of anger. My wounds healed faster, almost ready to fight, except the gash across my aching chest. I still felt woozy... I wanted to sleep.

"Tatsuki is a vessel with a very unique resiteu. Although she may not have much, that resiteu will help me regain my powers, and then I can finally have my revenge." She laughed monstrously, allowing Orihime to decide her attack. Even I didn't see the, once gracious girl suddenly shunpo up into the sky were the woman stood in shock. Orihime's kick flew into her face, sending her flying back. However, Orihime couldn't keep her place in the air, so she fell swiftly with the disadvantage of gravity. Kurami suddenly appeared behind her once again, sword wielded and in for the attack.

"You little bitch, why don't you just go away!" Her sword was fired down Orihime's back, with no mean to block. I watched Orihime murmur with a cold shadow forming over her eyes. In such a small space of time, the shield of four heavens resistance formed behind her, letting Tsubaki quickly shoot through the attacker's chest centre.

Was Orihime always this strong? Or this fast? It was over so quickly... to quickly... What happened to Kurami's attacks? Was I really that weak? Or was Kurami weakened? I had way too many questions as I lied helplessly on the ground, protected by my dearest girlfriend. Kurosawa coughed up the blood that formed in her chest. She grabbed at the hole that had formed in her central abdomen and dropped her zanpactou. Did Orihime really win?

"D- Damn you... You possess the same fucking powers as that fat bloke from those years ago!" Orihime didn't react physically to that sentence, but her mental reaction had formed questions that could be read over her face. Who was the man that she was talking about? Kurami regained her zanpactou and fled across the battle field.

"I'll be back, just you two fucking wait! I'll get that bitch Tatsuki; I'll have her resiteu, even if it kills you all!" She screamed before shunpo-ing away and out of our senses. Orihime didn't chase her; she just focused on the spot she once stood.

"Orihime..." I gently called to her, still hurting in the throat. Her whole body suddenly jumped as she turned to me.

"Ah! Ichigo-kun!" She hurried over, focusing on the last wound that remained over my chest.

"Orihime, don't worry about this, it's not life-threatening. I'm more worried about you, are you alright?" I tried to sound as normal as possible, yet the pain in my chest had struck me hard and still was not closing.

"Please, don't talk, Ichigo-kun." She turned to my eyes with a loving gaze, "I'm okay but your wound isn't." She placed her hands over the golden shield, hoping for more power to pass through.

Minutes passed yet the wound was still there. I could see the disbelief in her eyes with the same mental shock as when she was trying to heal the little girl.

"I... I don't understand... Why can't I heal you?" She wearily asked.

"I... I'm okay, Orihime, please, don't overdo it. I'll just get someone to bandage me up, I'm sure that'll be okay too." I was disappointed to know that Orihime couldn't heal me either, but I didn't want to burden her again. She reluctantly nodded before dismissing her pins. Her sublime arms wrapped carefully around my shoulders as she helped me up, slowly standing so that I could be carried into Urahara's.

**Did I do okay? And does it seem extremely weird that Ichigo seems so weak against Orihime (Cus that was my plan lol ^_^) There is a reason and most of you can probably guess what's going on now. I hope to see you next month were I'll start writing an IchiHime chapter since I don't like all this intense stuff right now :) So I'll see you soon!**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	23. The major date day

**WOW! TWO UPLOADS IN ONE MONTH! I haven't achieved that in a while :) Hello again my wonderful readers it is I! I am really happy I got this chapter finished early but there is something I want to say;**

**WHERE IN THE WORLD HAVE YOU DISAPPEARED TO? My reviews went down so badly last chapter and I think I might know why. Do you not like the actual plot I have for this story? It's not everyone, thank you to those who did review and I'm still glad about the hits I receive, but I really do need to know what I need to do.**

**Anyway, please enjoy this chapter, FULL ICHIHIME-NESS! This will hopefully prove my theory or destroy it. Please enjoy and review!**

**Ichigo lied** silently on the large bed, a bandage wrapped tightly across his muscular abdomen to cover the unsightly wound that cursed upon his body. I tried my hardest to heal it. My full concentration was on the grand orange shield I had placed up while he slept cosily, yet nothing removed the horrifying stain of blood. I didn't want to give up, but it was too obvious that the particular gash refused to undo; I had been there for so many hours trying. My body was exhausted from using my resiteu for so long continuously... maybe a small lie down would be nice. Slowly the tiny fairies that made my pins returned back to me, taking the golden glow off of Ichigo's gorgeous figure. How amazing he looked as he slept, like a silent guardian. I could hear his deep rhythm breathing; it was an enchanting melody to my ears... so peaceful... It lulled me to my own peaceful world, one full of love, one with Ichigo. I traced his hushed lips gently.

Just this small moment was like hurtful déjà vu. I stood above his damaged, yet lustful body, carefully lowering my head into the sublime space of his wondrous heat. His eyelids remained still as my lengthy hair caressed over his cheeks, as well as my warm tears. This time it was different. This time, no tears fell into despair as I dared myself to do the action, and this time, my lips were pursed onto his. A ghostly touch of my skin on his was all I could do in fear of waking the gentle man, but I still did it this time. I had regretted not kissing my beloved before I left; what if I hadn't seen him again? It would have been my biggest regret for the rest of my life. But I underestimated my friends. Seeing that he had gone all that way just for me... it was something I could ever explain.

I lifted myself once again and leaned back onto his curtains, just like before.

"I guess there is something that I always forgot to say to you, after everything you've done for me." I brought my grey eyes lovingly over his steady state, "...Thank you. Thank you just for being there, Ichigo-kun." My heart raced with the love that burst out for him, I really didn't deserve to have someone like him.

"You're so kind and gentle, not the punk you portray yourself to others. I guess there was a point I was scared of you, yet I still loved you during that time. I'm glad I got to know you, and I'm glad that I'm by your side." I smiled with a swift giggle, "It's not the first time I'm saying everything to you sleeping, but I wish I had the courage to say everything while you're awake." I couldn't resist my urges. I planted a quicker, stronger kiss on him.

When I broke off again... two tender chocolate eyes stared at me with a half smirk consisting them. I screeched and fell back to the wall.

"How – How – How long have you been awake?" I stuttered.

"Since before you decided to kiss a sleeping man." I snapped at the realisation that he had heard me say _everything_. He sat up with a grin plastered causally on his lying face.

"You..." I hurled forward, continuously bashing on his stomach, "You've been awake and you didn't say anything! How could you let me do something so embarrassing and just lie there?" I held my innocent eyes as I hit him, not hard, but certainly so he could feel it.

Quickly he grabbed my arms and brought me into his chest, wrapping the other around my back in a tight embrace.

"It wasn't embarrassing." He whispered compassionately into my ear, "And frankly, I'm glad to be standing by your side too."

I couldn't help it as the blood rushed to my head. My anger washed away with one simple sweep. I laid there, silent, taking in the intoxicating smell of honey that he possessed. It felt strange as he held me to his toned chest, like I was falling into a never ending pit of fresh flowers and plushies, I was being sucked in wonderfully.

"But, don't kiss me while I'm sleeping." He said. I pushed my head up so I could face him with full attention, "Because while I'm sleeping, how can I enjoy your luscious lips?" I loved this side of Ichigo. It wasn't something he showed often but, wow, it is defiantly a side worth the wait. I gave an affectionate smile to match his ravishing one before passion kicked into our hormones, lusting for one another's lips, and forfeiting to that desire. He placed me down onto his lap with our lips interlocked, then slowly down on the bed next to each other. I couldn't believe that I really was making out with the man I had loved for so many years. I couldn't have asked for a better man to be with. How he acted, everything he ever done was so selfless and pure... sure he had some dopey moments, but I had many more. We stayed in each others' arms for a good few minutes, enjoying the blissful awareness of each other before Ichigo decided to break our composed silence.

"Orihime... why don't we take the school day off today, just spend it out together and forget about everything that's happened?" I laughed slightly.

"We can't do that, Ichigo-kun! What about our lessons?" We both sat back up but didn't break our tranquil eye contact.

"It'll be okay; just one day won't mean too much, will it?" He kept a loving gaze casted on me, one that I very rarely could resist... okay, I could never resist.

"Well, I don't know... Do you think anything important will happen if we're gone for one day?"

"It's still the first week back; I doubt they'll do much." I was slowly convinced. I hadn't ever bunked for a full day before, only an hour at most to take care of hollows.

"Hm... Fine, but what will we do instead?"

**I focused strongly **on the white statues in front of me. They stood there with no favour of falling down before me; mocking me with their presence. I tightened my jaw and ran forward, throwing the large item that was pulling at my delicate hand. One by one the statues fell down, finally accepting my purple glitter sphere and begged for mercy.

"STRIKE!" I shouted, punching my hand in the air. I turned back to Ichigo sitting on the side seats and poked my tongue out, taking victory for our second game. He clapped but sighed in defeat, realising he had lost both games of bowling. He chuckled lightly before standing up.

"I wish I had known you were so good at bowling before we came, at least then I wouldn't of had to drown in defeat." I jumped over to his side and squeezed at his giant hands.

"If it makes you feel any better, I didn't know I was either. I've never been bowling before!" It was true, Sora didn't want me hurting myself and Tatsuki didn't like it, my other friends had never thought about going bowling before.

"Really?" Ichigo looked surprised to hear me say that, but still I nodded in confirmation, "Well, how was it? Besides winning so much did you enjoy it?" Again I nodded, this time with great enthusiasm. I loved it so much, and better yet, I got to go with my genuine boyfriend.

"Thanks for bringing me." I planted a quick peck on his cheek and danced over to the counter, ready to remove my stylish bowling shoes. Suddenly, something caught my childish mind. I turned my head to my right, staring straight into to gawping gap full of cushioned bears and other animals, silently asking for any young girl to take them home. But one thing stood between the luring fauna and the wide-eyed sweet girl; the metal claw that hung above high. I was already pressed against the glass with a coin held sacredly in the coin slot.

This claw was not going to win! I concentrated devilishly on the head of a large white dog that centred the machine. Left a little, up slightly, right, I was going to get it if it was the last thing I did!

**Her mind was filled **with only the strange patchy dog that lied on the many teddies inside the claw machine, her eyes glued with shimmering light onto it. I was surprised on how into Orihime could get into games, at the same time, she was simply adorable.

"Look, Ichigo-kun, I've got it!" She pointed at the raising claw with the head of the dog gripped loosely. However, a loud groan came from her disappointment as it dropped back down, leaving her empty handed. She turned to me with a sad, chibi face before changing back to a broad smile while she pulled out another coin. Again she retried her attempt at the pup, only to return nothing once again. For a third time round, still nothing.

She was just about to bring out yet another coin, determined to win the plushie.

"Orihime, let me try?" She turned to me confused before stepping aside. I placed my own coin in and took the keypad of buttons.

"The trick with these is to go for the body, not the head." I smiled to her, pressing the button for it to lower as soon as it was in position. Lowering down it gripped loosely once again to the body of the dog, lifting it up slowly. Orihime leaned in, begging for it to not drop. She gasped slightly as it slipped, yet still it held on awkwardly. Over the winning drop, the claw let go, dropping down the prize Orihime wanted so badly. I picked it out and handed it over, receiving a gleaming eyed cat smile from the auburn haired princess.

"Oh, thank you so much, Ichigo-kun, I love you so much!" She laughed joyfully hugging her new cushion teddy. I smiled as the warm feeling built up in me. She may have been childish, but I liked that about her; she could be enthusiastic and enjoy herself so much without holding it back. She was basically everything I wasn't, but I still loved that about her.

"What should we do next?" She jumped about, checking over the different parts of the arcade part of the bowling alley.

"Well first, should we get our shoes back?" I laughed; she really did get easily excited.

**I cheered as **Orihime clapped at her high score of the dance dance revolution mat. She placed her initials in and turned back to me.

"Ichigo-kun, why don't you dance with me?"

"Oh, I couldn't, not in front of all these people." I looked around at the small formed crowd around us, staring in astonishment at the beautiful teen that graced swiftly on the hardest songs.

"It'll be fun! Come on... please, for me?" She tried her hardest with her most amazing beauty on display before me; I couldn't say no to her high hopes. I sighed and stood next to her on the spare mat.

"This is going to be humiliating!" I whined quietly so she couldn't hear me; I didn't want to ruin in for her.

"Okay... we'll do an easy song... how about '_Love Love Shine'_?" She beamed.

"Whatever you want, babe." I stood shocked at what I had just said, and so did Orihime for a few seconds before she turned back with a bashful gleam, yet a very happy simper stuck on her soft skinned face. I turned to the screen in my own bashfulness.

"You ready for this?" She grinned, "And... begin!"

The arrows began speeding across the screen, taking all my concentration away from the audience and onto my feet. Orihime had obvious practise as she glided swiftly between each of the buttons held on the mat and, even for a beginner such as myself, so was I. Both of us received perfect with each moment that passed, no breaks in our combos.

Finally the song ended with no breathlessness within either of us.

"We both got perfect score!" She beamed, "I guess you'll need something harder than that, huh?" She searched over me with a suspicious eye, "Have you played DDR before?"

"Once, with Karin and Yuzu, but I wasn't really concentrating so I didn't do that well and so they kicked me off." I replied in all honesty. The luscious woman gave me a competitive smirk before turning to the next song.

"Do you want to choose this time? But I won't tell you the difficulty of the song." She smirked playfully. I looked over to her screen and took control, clicking on the song that sounded best to me.

"How about..._'The Legend of Max'_?" I chose turning over to my gleaming princess. Her face dropped slightly before becoming the gaming look she held again.

"That's a great song to do! But put it on expert because it's way too easy on any of the other settings."

"Maybe for you, but I'll take your word for it." I set the level and prepared myself; for some reason there was something off with Orihime's voice to be as easy as she said it was.

And it wasn't.

My legs ached amazingly as the song closed. I found out as we were playing by the crowd that I had chosen the hardest song in the entire game... but we still both tied with eight mistakes each.

"Maybe I should bring over Yuzu's DDR at some point, we can try at home where it doesn't cost us." I reasoned with her breathless bright eyes.

"Yeah... I will beat you on at least one song though, Kurosaki Ichigo, even if we play all day and night!" She vowed with a grin stretching from ear to ear.

Even with our competitive personalities, I was still happy she was enjoying herself so much. She grabbed my hand and pulled me off the machine, finally sitting down on a nearby double seat spread.

"I have an idea." Orihime beamed, "Why don't we catch a movie at the cinema? If you want, I don't mind paying for us both."

"I couldn't let you do that." I smiled warmly, "But a movie does sound nice right now." Something that we could relax to does sound nice, rather than any more of the arcade machines I helplessly kept losing at, such as the guitar hero, racing, whack-a-mole, even the shooting games Orihime took full victory over. It was only DDR I seemed to get a break from! I wasn't complaining though, I really was having a great time with her. I got up with a deep breath before holding out my hand for her too.

"What sort of film do you want to see?" I asked politely, not thinking about my emptying wallet – thank god I saved up enough for a nice time out, but I still needed some for Saturday.

"Well... Let's both decide when we get there."

**Her hand wrapped **tightly around my arm, taking away the blood circulations but returning me with the luxurious scent of her strawberry aura as her head buried into my shoulder. Every now and then her head will turn back to the large screen, before her lovely eyes shot closed with a little yelp close by. I smiled as I patted her beautiful auburn locks to let her know that it was all right, that I was there to protect her. She turned up to me and grinned gently. Slowly, she grabbed my arm and placed it around her body, allowing her to force herself comfortably into my abdomen. My cheeks turned a little rosy but, thanks to the darkness, it wasn't noticeable. She was so warm. Just like the warmth of her wonderfully kind heart. How I ever deserved someone like Orihime, I'd never know.

Time passed by and we found ourselves at the end of the film and exiting the theatre.

"That film was amazing!" Orihime stretched her arms with a glad grin.

"I would have thought you wouldn't have liked it considering you faced away from the screen so many times."

"No, I really did enjoy it. Thanks for taking me out today." She gripped my hand loosely as we walked towards the bus stop. Suddenly she stopped and placed her hand through her pocket, "We've been out for so long; I wonder what the time is..." Orihime's hamburger phone made its appearance and flipped open. Her gorgeous face suddenly dropped into a mixer of fear and dreadfulness.

"Orihime, what's wrong?" I asked concerned, "Did something happen?" I was so worried as my mind filled with possibilities.

"Yes... something so terrible!" She whispered with full fright in her tone.

"What is it?" I was really worked up now.

"It's terrible... I... I've missed twenty calls from Tatsuki-chan!" She screamed and dialled her number, making my face drop at the false conclusion I had made up.

"Orihime, I'm sure that's not as bad as you-"The phone was yanked from her ear quickly; I could hear every single word Tatsuki shouted from the other end of the line. She had been worried about her since she hadn't turned up for school for the second day AND she wasn't at home, or answering her phone.

"...AND WHERE THE HELL IS ICHIGO? I TRIED HIM AS WELL TO SEE IF YOU WERE WITH THAT IDIOT!" Sudden dread formed over my features as I pulled my phone out of my back pocket: fifteen missed calls in the six last hours from Tatsuki. There was no way I was going to be let off so easily. I turned to Orihime, both of us with the same expression; one where we hoped that our lives were going to remain when we meet with the teenaged raven girl. She placed the phone back to her ear as she calmed down, resulting to the grey eyed beauty to explain why she hadn't answered, and where we had been. After a few minutes for apologies from both of us, and some co-operation, we finally convinced her that we were fine and to spare us.

"Now that's all over, should we head home?" I smiled to my princess.

"Well... I guess it is dinner time now... it's 5 o'clock." She didn't seem too happy that it was time to leave; I assume she had as much fun as I did today. I looked up to the luminous sky. The sun still ravished the calm overcast light. It didn't seem that late; I didn't notice the time fly pass so quickly when I spent it with the woman I loved. I didn't want the day to end just yet... perhaps there was one last thing we could do before we headed home...

"I have an idea." I proclaimed to her, "Why don't we go out for dinner as well? Spending a little more means nothing to me if it means I'm with you." I really did say things before thinking. It wasn't much my style to say these romantic things, especially in public places, but here I was anyway. With a flash of Orihime's gracious smile, I took it as a yes, and this time, she wasn't going to pay, and I'd make sure of it.

"Did you have anywhere in mind?" She giggled sweetly swinging my arm.

"I would make it a surprise, but I don't know how to get there," I replied sheepishly, "Why don't we go back to Sora's cafe?" Her gleaming eyes shimmered with stars as she nodded quickly.

"That's a great idea! I'll show you how to get there."

**The sun set carefully **over the sweet horizon, ending a perfect day I had spent with my Hime. She was tired but still smiling with love and affection and I was glad that I had been the one to bring that fantasy gleam to her radiant face, even though it brought a moth to my flattened wallet. But, it was a small price to pay to make her happy. I hoped I could do it again soon. We reached to her apartment door and kissed goodbye, allowing me to head home and reflect on the grateful day that had just passed over our lives. The strange feeling of warm butterflies beated in my chest, yet I felt a wondrous happiness I hadn't felt since my mother was alive.

If I thought about it carefully, I finally realised why I did love Orihime so much. The way she acted with so much love and kindness, hr childish but nurturing nature; she was just like mum. Maybe I saw so much of my mother in her it made me unconsciously attracted to her. Of course, they were both so beautiful too but beauty is only skin deep on most women. Not on Orihime though. Her beauty, just like mothers, broke right through into her heart. Yes, that's why I loved her so dearly. Orihime is probably the only woman who could ever fill the hurtful hole that was trapped in my heart.

I smiled whole heartedly as I reached my front door. For once my life was going so well. I opened the door and walked in, happy just to be alive.

"I'm home." I called, getting the usual antics from dad before I walked casually into the living room.

"Welcome home, Ichi-nii!" The youngest of my sisters called.

"Hi, Yuzu." I smiled, about to head to the settee. A quick thought dawned back onto me, "Oh yes, Yuzu," I called, "Could I borrow your DDR game?"

**I tried my best, honest! I couldn't help putting Ichigo on a dance mat to be honest XP. Was it okay? I wanted a chapter away from everything so I didn't mention Safaia or Kurami, even though I probably should have considering the last chapter. I hope to see you again mid June (Exam weeks so it'll be hopefully after the 20th). Bye!**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	24. What's wrong, my dear?

**I AM SO SORRY! i REALLY AM! I know I said around the 20th but it turns out I have even more exams -_,-** **I had been writing this chapter since the last one but I had major writers block half way through. I hope it's good enough. And also, I am very near to ending this story now :) I'm starting to get a little down hearted about it now anyway. As for my 'theory', it got destroyed lol. I had three reviewers and only two of them was about the story XD I give up now. I must be doing okay if you don't want to tell me if I'm doing anything wrong. I just hope you silent readers still enjoy this story.**

**Nypsy; Thank you for that :) I did try to keep the date quite teen like since I've kinda noticed that sort of money problem in other stories too, but do you think I may have ran the money over a bit too much?**

**TheCatWithTheHat; He hasn't actually realised that he hasn't got zangetsu, it'll be explained a bit more in the next couple of chapters :) sorry about that.**

**Child of the ashes; Wow, I'm honoured to have that invite from you but I'm not very competitive and haven't exactly got a good writing style lol. Thank you for it but I'm going to pass for now, maybe another time.**

**Please enjoy!**

My face paled incredibly at the sight of the group surrounding the photo in the corridor. I had spent all day trying my best to remove them yet more and more kept showing up in their place. I had given up. I'm sorry, Orihime, but our reputation was about to make a complete u-turn.

"Oh my god! Is that Kurosaki?" I heard one girl point out, tracing over the picture's orange spikes.

"It must be! The only other person with that sort of hair colour is Inoue, and she's here!" Another girl pointed at the auburn haired girl in the picture.

The picture was of me and Orihime in embrace, yet there was another figure holding onto our necks, facing forward into the camera. Our smiles were genuine and pure, our eyes closed in a satisfactory love atmosphere, and Orihime's rosy cheeks gleamed peacefully and beautifully. I would had loved to have this picture, put it in a frame and admire it for so long, but I would not like this side of me shown everywhere around the school. I didn't want everyone to know about mine and Orihime's daughter either. Safaia tenderly gripped our necks as we held her up together, her gleaming orbs of deep sapphire shimmering like the bright sun above our heads, and her mouth smiling beautifully just like her mother.

"Surely she isn't Orihime's, I mean, she isn't that sort of girl... is she?"

"I don't know... the little girl does look a lot like her."

"Yeah, and it doesn't mean to say that it's Kurosaki's, they've only been together for a couple of weeks tops."

"That maybe what we think but what if they've been hiding their relationship?"

"Now that you mention it, they have hung around each other since about second year, and Ichigo and Tatsuki have known each other for a long time, so he and Inoue could have known each other for that long too."

I needed to keep myself from being seen at that point of time, yet I didn't want all these rumours to begin before they had the entire picture. I turned away from the crowd, sneaking away over to my class, hopefully undetected.

"Look, there's Kurosaki!" I heard one of the guys scream. Damn it, I was caught. The entire crowd legged it over to my destination; bombarding me with so many questions it was impossible to hear one full sentence. I forced my way through, ignoring all of their inquiries and began sprinting down the corridor, silently begging for them to understand that I didn't want to answer anything they had to ask. Of all the things that didn't need to be gossiped, why did they have to find out about this?

**I flicked my **auburn locks behind my back, looking over the sweet picture that I grasped gently. He looked so handsome in this photo, and Safaia so cute. I smiled greatly and closed my eyes. How did I become so lucky to have both a wonderful gentleman and a gorgeous baby girl held so dear in my life? Still, it bugged me slightly on who had taken and placed these pictures; I wouldn't have minded telling them about Safaia, it's not like I was keeping it a secret. Oh well. I opened my great grey eyes again just to grab a quick glimpse of a sprinting blur passing me in the corridor, followed by many more trying to catch the poor prey. One of the blurs stopped and turned to me, proving that she was indeed human, and none other than Michiru Ogawa. Her short brown locks flew incredibly behind her as she held out her hands to grab my shoulders.

"Orihime-chan!" She screamed, hyped up yet out of breath, "Is this really you and Kurosaki?" She pointed down to the picture in my hands to the two strange haired teens.

"Yes, it is." I answered simply.

"Then, who's the child? Is she a niece or are you babysitting, or-"

"She's my daughter." I smiled, getting a shocked expression off of her. After a pause, her reaction formed where she backed up slightly, gasping at me.

"EH? Your, and Kurosaki's, daughter? She got to be five! Are you really like that? Orihime-chan, your not are you?"

"No, I'm not like that. I and Ichigo-kun have only been together for a couple of weeks! Safaia is adopted. I found her alone in a box." I tried to explain. The teenage girl's uncertainty was still placed, yet less troubled as before.

"You would never lie to me... would you? I mean, we're friends, I thought I knew what you were like; I could never imagine you being one of _'them_'." She tried taking the uncertainty off of her face and grinned sweetly, only having her eyebrows fixed together. I smiled whole heartedly and laughed; I really couldn't see a bad side to this situation.

"I wouldn't lie to you, Michiru-chan." She sighed and let go of my shoulders, "But," I continued, "Do you know who had taken this picture?" She shook her head quickly in response. I was left wondering curiously as she turned towards the strong sound of a bell, before dragging me gently towards the class.

"**It's such a pain in the ass!" **Ichigo whined in annoyance. I couldn't stop staring at him though; I was barely listening. His hair was rough and messed up from the constant chase around the school premises, his eyes dark in tiredness and annoyance, as well as his school uniform clutching tenderly to his toned chest through the small amount of sweat he had built up while running. He lazily held his jumper over his shoulder in one hand and his bag in the other, contracting his bare biceps into a blissful, satisfying look.

I was mesmerised. No matter how much I stared, I still couldn't believe that someone like him was interested in me. I could feel the heat rise up to my cheeks; I could feel the pit of my stomach drop just by being by his side. His voice was distant through my ears, yet so dominant through my mind. I wanted to kiss his so badly, yet I was afraid of losing control of myself if I even moved. He turned slightly to the right, and I followed his gracious jaw-line as he continued to speak. I felt so weak in his presence without even knowing why. There was something about this irritated look of his that just brought out the most handsome parts of him to life.

"Hey, Orihime? Orihime... Wake up, maybe? Hime..." I was still unaware of his attempts to wake me from my fantasy world as I still couldn't register his voice. Only when he clicked his fingers in my face and leaned over me closely I had woken up. My face reddened grew worse at his sudden closeness. I couldn't hold back any longer; he was just way too close to let me just stay on stand-by.

Quickly I gripped tightly onto his masculine neck and forced my lips towards his gorgeous face, only to miss where I was aiming and hit on his jaw-line. I didn't care. I just sent more kisses all over his jaw and met up to his thin lips. He didn't even attempt to pry me off, even though we were still in the school garden. I could feel the icy stares penetrate through my gripped back as he pressed down onto my lips. It turned out that Ichigo actually had many fan girls in the school, so I had their jealousy as I had 'gotten there first' in their harsh eyes. The others helping out on the garden sneered and tutted at us, with an occasional 'aww' but we didn't care. Ichigo's anger washed away quickly, I could feel his furrowed eyebrows and other muscles in his face relax. His kiss was never fierce, or strong. He had such a gentle touch for someone who had such a tough reputation. He'd just gently brush my lips with his just before completely parting from me and take my in his arms tightly.

"Jeez, get a room you two!" Tatsuki smirked playfully at us. Ichigo quickly got his poseur back and let me go, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Tatsuki-chan!" I whined, slightly annoyed that my embrace with Ichigo was cut short, "How could you say that! You know we aren't like that!" Although we weren't, I could never stop myself from wondering...

"That's not what this picture says." A boy from our class held up the item of our evidential rumours, "Slut. As if the goddess of Karakura high school would be so innocent with a body like yours. I bet this girl's not even Kurosaki's, maybe you don't even know the father."

Tatsuki went mental. Ichigo went mental. I did everything I could to keep them both back from destroying the stubborn idiot. Of course I was hurt at his words, but I didn't want him dead. My feeble body was no match against the two; they raged at him.

"You bastard! HOW DARE YOU!" Ichigo screamed at him. He was already pissed, but now he was beyond mad. He held him high by his collar in his grasp, he squirmed frantically with fear striking quickly through his heart, "Of course it isn't my child, and it isn't even Orihime's! Get that through your stupid thick head of yours!" Tatsuki was rooting him on the sidelines as he continued, "And you can all listen to this! Orihime Inoue is not a slut! Or a whore! She is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen in my life, and I'm not afraid to say it!" I was blushing badly at his ranting, "We found that girl about two months back and been taking care of her since! Get your brains out of the gutter for crying out loud!"

**I stared daggers** around the crowding students, making them silent as I shouted my explanation. I hadn't mentioned anything when they all asked about it, but as soon as Orihime was insulted I had flipped. "Now," I continued, "Does anyone else want to say anything?" I waited patiently for someone to speak against me, but no one answered.

"That's what I thought." I placed the freshman down and turned back towards Orihime. She had the strangest expression on her beautiful face. She didn't look scared of me, nor worried, angry or sad. She looked... maybe thankful? Surprised wasn't right, yet she wasn't happy either. There was something that made her features spark; she didn't have a neutral look. Damn... I really wasn't good at placing emotions.

I looked at my watch and grabbed her hand loosely, dragging her gently out to the front gates of school as it was finally over.

**My bag was thrown** onto the settee, followed by my aching body. Orihime quickly placed herself beside me, still with the same expression as earlier. Something about that expression was strange; now that I thought about it, she held it when she spaced out as well. Was she spacing out again?

"I'm sorry about snapping like that earlier." I apologised tiredly, "I didn't mean too but they were just so judging. Usually I don't care about what others think about me, but when they started on saying what they thought about you-"She cut me off with her finger to my lips.

"It's okay, Ichigo-kun," She soothed sweetly, "I knew you were annoyed, but seeing what you did, and hearing what you said... it made me feel..." She stopped and moved her hand to cup my cheek, yet diverted her eyes to the floor and kept a faded, cute blush across her cheeks, "Protected." She looked back up with the same strange expression. She felt protected?

"**I have always felt** safe being next to you, Ichigo-kun, but what you did made me feel as if having you with me, I can never be harmed physically or mentally. It made my heart race like crazy... even I don't understand exactly what this feeling is." I was stranded in my own words, as well as Ichigo's shocked yet understanding expression. I grabbed my bag from behind me and pulled out the very picture that sourced Ichigo's anger.

"You look so happy here." I whispered to him, "Like there's not a care in your world. I like that side of you; it's the source of your protectiveness, as you want everyone around you to be happy." I handed it to him and let him study it. He gently traced along it and half smiled. He knew I was right.

The loud obnoxious noise of Ichigo's cell phone broke our subtle silence. He picked it out from his bag with a pained expression at the caller ID. I listened to his short conversation without asking anything...

...Until his eyes grew wide with a hung open mouth with no words.

"Ichigo...kun?" I called to him. Still no words were heard, yet his eyes shivered with a traumatizing look that had me afraid. What was going on? He through the phone down as the caller hung up and grabbed my wrist once again.

"We have to go to Urahara's, now!" He sturdily said. I didn't react to his tight grip; I didn't protest or object, I was too scared of what was happening that could cause Ichigo to suddenly turn like this.

**The screams shredded through the room**, making me squints in pain. My heart froze when I saw the scene. There was no wonder Ichigo pulled me so hard here.

Safaia lied desperately clutching her stomach in the foetal position on the floor. She screamed and cried next to Urahara and Isshin. They just sat there, Urahara looking as serious as usual, but Isshin resisting the urge to pick her up. I ran straight to her with Ichigo. But Ichigo was caught by Urahara, getting a look saying not to go near her. But I wasn't stopped by hands, only with words that didn't reach me. I wrapped my hands around her tiny waist, only to pull them back fiercely. Although her skin was pale, her touch burned like a wild flame. Her screams brought tears to my eyes, and, as she turned over, so did her face.

Her eyes changed constantly from her normal sapphire eyes to a sickly emerald green... then to a worse diamond white. I broke down next to her, doing everything I could to try and let her know I was there. I kept my hand out for her to grip, wincing at her fire touch before naturally reflexing my hand to pull away. I couldn't get near her.

So I went to a last resort. I called forth my pins and placed the orange shield over my wonderful child. She stopped screaming instantly. Everyone looked carefully at me, and her, but I was too busy sighing in relief that her screaming had died down. I closed my eyes for a second and looked back to her.

But there was something completely wrong.

Her eyes were half closed, yet still changing colour. Her breathing laboured and almost halted.

"Inoue-san, get the shield away now!" Urahara shouted to me. I obeyed immediately and once again reached for her. Her skin was ice; unlike the fire it was a few seconds ago. What was going on? I wanted to scream for her, but my voice was gone. Ichigo ran to my side, as well as Isshin as they started their emergency first aid. Ichigo ripped his top off and huddled her to keep her warm as Urahara started to heat up water bottles and Isshin tried to get her breathing normal again.

And I just stood there.

Scared.

**This was completely different to the last chapter huh? :P I hope you could follow it. THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF THE END XD! I won't ask for reviews any more but I still do appreciate them :). Bye!**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	25. Ghost of you

**OH MAN! I had a MAJOR brain wave two nights after my last chapter and I just HAD to write this! I would of left it for a while but I was just SOOO excited that I couldn't! I really hope you enjoy this because I have found my wonderful reviewers once again which has made me very happy :} also, my exams are over so that's made me happy too! Thank you reviewers, readers, favourites, etc. you guys really are the best! THANK YOU!**

**I couldn't choose a reviewer reply as they all touched my heart to what you said. :} I had major awws and now my heart is back to finishing this story 3**

**And also, since most of my readers are american; Happy Independence day :) It's ironic considering I'm English and, surprisingly, I briefly know the history to this day. Okay, I'll stop rambling now :) Enjoy!**

**Oh, sorry, a little WARNING; this chapter is quite sad so please don't read it if I'm gonna end up ruining your mood lol.**

_**Ichigo's muscular**__ arms cuddled the small child as if she'd slip away if he let go even a little. I couldn't stand it. Her tears didn't exist, but mine did. Her pain was numb, but mine stabbed at me painfully. What happened in that few hours we had been at school? We were so happy that morning... so why did this have to happen? My hands shook uncontrollably as I watched the sight unfold. Isshin had used many different items to get her breathing normal again; Urahara had gotten Ururu and Jinta to grab blankets and a bowl of hot water, wrapping her with Ichigo as well. I could see he was doing all he could to stay strong, wishing with all his might for her to wake up again. He was sweating under the cotton, but he didn't care. What was I doing? I just stood there. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak, I couldn't breathe. I was suffocated under the stress and panic._

_Someone help me._

"**Mama..." She** whispered gently, "Thirsty..." I didn't want to leave her side. Ichigo nodded at the request and headed over to the kitchen for the retrieval of her bottle. I was still shaking. Everything that had happened... I almost couldn't take it. Thankfully, Safaia was safe once again, but I just couldn't leave again, not after the danger she was in. It was because of me. It was because I wasn't there to save her. Why didn't I move? I clenched my fists and rested tensely on the gentle child's cot; fighting back the tears I could feel swell in my eyes. Damn it! What the hell was I doing? The sensitive touch of larger warmth surprised me as it pressed tenderly onto my hand. I turned and looked up, following the well toned arm to the gorgeous face I had become a custom to. His eyes were so tender yet understanding; as if trying to persuade me that it wasn't my fault, that he understood. I sighed and leaned back from the cot, letting Ichigo give our child her bottle. Seeing him like this was heartbreaking. He was just as scared yet I never even thought of his emotions. I'm such an awful person. I didn't even notice the warm liquid pass down my aching cheeks until his hand passed up from my hand and cupped my cheek.

"Orihime, it's okay." His eyes said to me, "I'm here for you." Something in my throat snapped, making my chocking tears pass faster. I flung my arms around Ichigo's shoulders and leaned on his broad chest. I could feel so safe in his arms.

"Please, stay here tonight, Ichigo-kun, please." I begged through my hics. He just replied by kissing one of my swollen eyes. He sat on the chair next to me and picked me up by my legs, placing me down onto his own lap. Safaia had fallen asleep after being given her drink, making me thankful she didn't see me like this.

**I hadn't realised **that she had fallen asleep on me. Her auburn hair caressed down her back as if wanting to hug her, make her feel alright once again. I stared out the window for a moment. The moon guided its luminous beauty over the small town of Karakura. I saw the shinigami on patrol glide gracefully along the roofs of different homes, her short jet black hair trailing behind her quickly. She had no idea what had happened. Rukia was too busy working on the mod soul case to worry about others, yet still I wished they could tell us what was wrong with my baby girl. My gaze turned back to the sleeping beauty on my lap. Silently, I picked her back up and stood, walking over to her bed and placing her down, bringing the silky covers over her benevolent body.

I was so worn out after today's events. Maybe I should rest too. I passed around to the other side of Orihime's double bed, facing towards the window and laid down gently beside her. It wasn't the first time I had slept so closely to her; I had slept in the same bed when she was ill as she insisted on not sleeping on the sofa. I smiled a little at her slender frame and brushed some hair away from her beautiful snoozing face, kissing it whisperingly as a goodnight before turning my back to her and falling asleep.

**A sickening strike** across my chest pulled me horribly out of my uneasy siesta. I surpassed the need to call out in pain, but my body struggled to withstand it. I didn't have my shirt on but I still had the bandages over the disgusting scar. I was bleeding badly. Had my wound re-opened? The pain struck me again, causing me to growl to keep from waking Orihime and Safaia up. It was intense. My arms passed around the bloody sight, clutching harshly to try and make the pain go away, yet still is submerged. I couldn't take it much longer. I stood up and out of the bed, only for my legs to give way and make me collapse back to the ground. Another serge of violent agony crawled swiftly under my blood soaked arms, making the same metallic taste reach up to my mouth and escape down the corners of my lips. I couldn't stand it much longer. My eyes widened at the feel of an even worse, almost electrical, pang tortured through my struggling body. I let out a slight groan at the pain, but still crawled over towards a mirror. I needed this wound checked now, and Orihime was in no condition for me to disturb after earlier. My hand reached the leg of the dresser. Still I coughed the dark vital out as I heaved myself up to her vanity mirror.

Yet something else was happening.

I forced my chocolate eyes to turn to the mirror; however... they were no longer the chocolate eyes I had seen every day.

They were a sickly sapphire.

I couldn't take it anymore. The worst surge yet passed through me, finally allowing my mouth to open widely.

I screamed.

**My mind raced in a daze. **I looked frantically around for the source of the terrible sound of the night. The first thing I noticed was the dark fluid pressed against the bed sheets beside me. I followed it down to the floor, the to the trail leading over to my vanity ta-

My eyes widened.

Ichigo's breathing was heavy and dangerous as he sprawled over the floor and screamed so hard it broke my ears. It was like déjà vu. I flung the covers off my body and sprinted to my mobile; calling the first person I could think of who maybe could help. Isshin Kurosaki. My hands shook badly as I heard the other end of the line ring, and, after an eternity, answer.

"Kurosaki-san!" I screamed drastically, "Isshin... Ichigo-kun... Ichigo-kun!" I cried down the phone. He didn't need a story; he was already leaving by the sound of my trepidation. I knew Ichigo's screams could be heard by him anyway. I dropped the phone and turned back to my beloved boyfriend, fear pulling badly at me. I thought I was going to be sick at the sight of his blood. His screams. His blood. His terror. Why was this happening? Why was this happening again? I flung at my pins and screeched for my Sōten Kisshun to form over him. My own body was thrown at him anyway; catching myself under the golden shield as well as my arms gripped his neck tightly.

"Why is this happening?" I screamed, "WHY?" I was breaking down badly. My hands made me sit up over his broken body, making me rip his bandages off.

The sight made me sick.

"Ichigo!" I shrieked, trying my best to heal the disgusting laceration. My determination was there, but my fear took over my wrecked body. What I saw explained everything that had happened to that open scar.

As the skin pushed back to heal him, it was eaten off once again by whatever substance had been placed on his skin. It was like a poison on his flesh, eating slowly away at his wound. I hadn't ever seen anything like it; no matter how many times I healed him, they would just take the healing wound once again. Ichigo needed an antidote, fast.

That was it. My own body gave in as I broke down next to him. I could hear Isshin burst through the door of my apartment, but my ears started to buzz, the room spun uncontrollably. I had collapsed next to Ichigo's burning body... and my eyes became black.

**Ichigo's inner world**

Something was different. My world was still as usual, lying flat on the side, defying gravity, yet, something was different. I looked around in hope to realise what it was, yet still nothing. I was in an unusual blue abyss of nothingness.

"Old man Zangetsu!" I called for him, yet nothing replied, "Hey, Old man Zangetsu! Are you here?" The nothingness was eerie. I had no reply once again. I stood up and begun walking aimlessly around; where was everyone? I tried looking for him, but still I had nowt showing up. What was going on?

"Finally decided to fucking show up?" A voice called for me. Her voice was brimmed with detest and anger, "You shouldn't keep a girl waiting." I turned swiftly to behind me, but nothing was there. I checked to my sides; I was alone. Still I heard her murderous voice echo around me.

"You weren't my original target but, what the hell? Looks like you'll do anyway." She cackled darkly in my mind.

"Show yourself!" I shouted around me, my scowl deepening at my own abhor. She stopped laughing and sighed in amusement.

"Do you really think your opponent would ever just show themselves when you ask? Are you that much of a fricken' idiot?" I didn't reply. Her words couldn't break me, no matter what she said.

"Listen closely, brat. You don't own this place anymore. Your body is now my vessel." I raised my eyebrow in confusion; her vessel?

"Originally, I was after Tatsuki. Her spiritual pressure would have healed me quickly, as well as bring all my powers back, but, of course, you and that bitch of yours just had to ruin my fun!" There was a glimmer to my right, finally showing her before me. I turned fastly to her, ready to launch for the attack. My hand swiftly passed over my back, grasping tightly to the- Where was Zangetsu? I frantically turned, searching for him once again until my eyes placed back onto the smirking figure of the taunting woman before me.

"Looking for something?" She smirked, flicking her hair over her shoulder. In a glimpse I saw the hilt of my zanpactou.

"You know this fucking thing is heavy. How can you walk around with this all the time?" She faked innocence.

That was it. I remembered, as I fought against her outside of Urahara's, she took my sword back then. Did... did I forget that Zangetsu was gone? My eyes widened as she began to laugh.

"I said it earlier didn't I? I control your body now. You're wondering how you forgotten about your precious zanpactou right?" She laughed again, "Have you ever wondered how I managed to get people to forget my face after I attacked them? I blinded you with my mist as you fell into the whore's shield. Obviously, you can't remember; I erased your memory of it happening." I snapped at her dominating vulgar voice. My legs swiftly ran towards the taller woman, readying with my fist to take her down. But, suddenly, I stopped. My feet were glued to the building we stood upon, my body paralysed and numb. I struggled as much as I could, but it was no challenge.

"Dear me, you just don't learn!" She scowled, slitting her eyes evilly, "This is the last fucking time I'll say this! I! Control! Your! Body! You can't do anything against me; I have dominated your soul and now, this body is controlled by me." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was just like my hollow side had said; my resolve was faltered and now, I was no longer 'king' in my own body.

"And do you know how?" I stayed silent, "I was in Safaia's body that entire time! She isn't human. Safaia, as you call her, is a member of Central 46, the ones who had decided my judgement. Those bastards placed me in one of the bodies of one of their workers, but, thanks to time, her resolve was also weakened. I tried to escape, but that's when I was placed as a baby on the world of the living. Of course, I wasn't meant to be on this plane of existence, but they seemed to have forgotten about me and that's where I ended up. Do you see now? Your precious daughter was acting like that to try and surpass me, and my soul also in there. Yesterday, she finally gave up after years of battling. Her resolve was always weak, making her body quickly grow in hope to get her power back, but it was futile while I was there. Now I have you, my new host, and you are nowhere near her level of power, which is why it was so easy to pass from one to the other." She laughed maliciously; she was getting annoying,

"Of course, I had help though! The very woman who had found us that day, Orihime Inoue, her power helped the woman's power get stronger as mine weakened with her around. Like Tatsuki, Orihime's powers are also very unique. But, it's bad for me as it's the only sort of power I'm weak against. Thankfully, it also helped me. Her Sōten Kisshun allowed me to travel from one place to another; getting me from Safaia to you."

She calmed her laughing down and walked slowly to where I stood motionless. When in arms reach, her hand slithered to my cheek, her lips tormenting me beside my ear. In a small whisper, she had brought out my worst fear;

"Hey, Ichigo-kun...Do you remember that hallucination I gave you about Orihime... dying by your hand?"

**Mwhahaha okay, I'm sorry, I did warn you. I hope you enjoyed it anyway and, if you have any more details you want to know, then please PM me, I really don't mind. I purposely didn't have Safaia do anything when Ichigo was on the floor so don't say about that please. I'll know if you read these messages or not lol :P It should be a while for the next chapter but I know what I'm going to do thankfully so until then; Peace out!**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	26. Bodies

**Well here is chapter 26. It is extremely depressing trust me. The next chapter will explain the whole situation (flashback chapter, YAY *rolls eyes*) I'll let you get on with it.**

**Thank you reviewers I really got inspired by your words ^_^**

**TheCatWithTheHat; I have a picture with Ichigo with green eyes and trust me that is very hawt *-***

**avengeme; I know his hollow side wouldn't allow it lol :P But, because in the manga Ichigo doesn't have his hollow side atm so I didn't want to put him in just in case. Plus, he is a part of Zangetsu, which is in Kurami's hands ~ **

**nypsy; It wasn't your tiredness, I didn't really explain it properly. Don't worry though, I'm going to try next chapter to explain it all. ^_^**

My body stirred awake. I could hear nothing in the building but the sweet yet dispirited cries of a young woman over my body. I couldn't open my eyes, but I could feel the spiritual pressure of my beloved as the mysterious beauty above me.

"What should I do? What should I do?" She cried desperately, "What can I do? What have I done? Oh, please, Ichigo-kun, wake up... Just wake up..." She heaved and hiccupped, her bright auburn hair gently casting against my bare skin on my chest.

"This is all my fault. I should have done something yesterday. I should have helped. Why didn't you wake me? What if you died, idiot?" Orihime smacked her fist against the bed I lied on motionlessly. She had never insulted me before. I wanted to explain that I didn't want her to worry like this. I really was an idiot for not trusting her.

"I'm so sorry, Ichigo. I wanted to heal you, I wanted to make you better, but I just made you worse. If Kurosaki-san wasn't here then-" I badly tried to gain control of my limps, but still I was held down by the putrid woman in grasp of my unconscious mind. Why did she have me conscious though? I felt a smooth gentle touch of the goddess's forehead rest onto my own as small tears traced down my cheeks.

"I'm sorry. I love you so much, but I just can't do anything right." I strained my voice badly. I needed to comfort her, my arms needed to wrap around her back and pull her into a cosy embrace.

'_Are you sure you want her that close?'_ A voice echoed in me. Realisation hit me harshly. Orihime needed to run, she wasn't safe at all.

"Ori...Hime..." I choked out, "Ori...Hime!"

"Ichigo-kun?" The pressure on my head lifted as hope pulled into her wondrous voice.

"Ori...Hime...Run...!" I tried to tell her. My head screamed for her to get away, my own limbs trying to fight against the horrifying woman as she begun slowly lifting my left arm.

"Run... Orihime... Run... Now... Please... Leave!"

"Wha-What do you mean? Ichigo-kun, what's wrong?" Her voice was fretting drastically. I could easily imagine her worriful expression; one I hated seeing on her beautiful features.

'_Well, why don't we see that expression then, Ichigo-kun?' _The gentle mist murderer whispered darkly through my soul.

My eyes widened to face my beloved Hime. I was filled with so much pain at her shocked expression.

Something really told me that today was going to be the last day for one of us.

Orihime's POV

**My body was startled **at the sight and I showed it through my shocked eyes. His eyelids passed open for the first time in so many hours, but it wasn't the normal chocolate eyes I had easily fallen for. They were... They were...

Sapphire.

Why did Ichigo have sapphire eyes?

"Orihime! Please... Run!" His voice passed through me quickly without any registration going through my mind. I knew I was in a bad situation. Ichigo... this couldn't be happening. My gaze passed over to his slowly raising arm, telling me to move fastly. But my focus firstly went to the cot placed behind that raising arm. Safaia was still sleeping soundly... Was she actually sleeping? I finally backed up, using my legs as a support to break away from the orange-mane man and landing swiftly in time to miss being locked by him.

I quickly sprinted over to Safaia's cot, taking her in my arms and tried to wake her.

"Safaia! Safaia, wake up!" I shook her gentle as Ichigo got to his feet ridgedly, "Safaia?" I placed her back as I realised she would wake. Thankfully, she was still breathing.

"What's going on?" I passed through my throat croakily, "Kurosaki-san went to Urahara's in hope to find you an antidote for the poison in your wound, yet you still woke up and can stand. But, your eyes are not Ichigo's. Your spiritual pressure isn't Ichigo, or your movements. But your voice is Ichigo's, your scowl is and your presences inside your eyes are. What have you done to Ichigo-kun?" My eyes stayed fixed on the approaching figure. I realised I was going to have to fight in order to stay alive and bring my Ichigo back.

But why did I feel as if I knew how this was going to end?

**My stance stood strong as I swallowed all my fear.** This may have been Ichigo's body, but it was defiantly not his soul controlling him. I couldn't understand it completely, but I had a strong feeling he had the menacing woman in his body. How was unnecessary at this point in time. I watched Ichigo be pulled out of his human frame and into his shinigami uniform, reaching for the callous blade that rested silently against his broad back. My own silk hand reached into my pocket where my own source of offence and defence rested. There was no way I was prepared to fight Ichigo, but I was prepared to fight the demon that used his body as a vessel.

"Are you ready?" A strange version of a demon-like voice passed out of his throat. I replied with bringing my body into a fighting stance and holding my arms up ready. I tried not to fault. By staying at his disgusting eyes it reminded me that this wasn't Ichigo.

All I needed to do was protect myself and Safaia until Isshin returned, that way he could find a way in changing him back.

The nerving laugh of the insane demon escaped the lips of the man I had loved, giving him a painful enjoyment expression. It was terrifying. He quickly pelted towards me with his zanpactou ready for the attack. My shield was called forth with Tsubaki ready to penetrate through the offensive movement. As he swung speedily, it collided perfectly to the bottom of my golden protector and broke into a quick attack through the shoulder of his right arm. It wasn't deep but it still went through.

"Shit. Even in this god-forsaken body I still can't deal with her fucking attacks!" He cursed. I raised an eyebrow at the statement, was she weak against my powers? A quick flashback passed through my mind as I remembered the attack at Urahara's;

"_D- Damn you... You possess the same fucking powers as that fat bloke from those years ago!"_

It was farfetched, but could she have meant Hacchi? I didn't ponder on it; if she was weak against me then I had the upper hand to this fight. It was lucky she was such a loudmouth. I jumped back, just missing the tip of the blackened sword. Another sprint forward caused my body to flex down and sweep at the feet of my attacker. He jumped back, landing on his hand before swiftly gliding his feet so he stood on the bed.

"Damn, why does this thing have to be so fucking heavy?" He scowled trying to lift the weapon before his face, "This really won't do." My sudden call for Tsubaki caught him off guard, but still he changed positions to shunpo behind me. I expeditiously narrowed my legs to turn and face him only to have my own guard lowered rapidly. A pair of great chocolate eyes passed my glance with the most distressing countenance in existence.

"Orihime!" His normal deep vocal chords called for me. My heart stopped, I couldn't attack Ichigo, "Orihime, please, get out of here!" His right hand gripped the hilt of Zangetsu and pushed it against my stomach, winding me and pushing me into the wall on the other side of the room.

"I'm sorry, Orihime, I have no control!" His voice cracked as he fought against his own movements, "Get out!"

I couldn't just leave him like this.

"No." I stood up once again, regaining my breath, "I won't leave. I promised I will no longer burden you and, by leaving you, I can endanger many lives, especially those of innocent people. Could you ever allow that to happen?" I smiled lovingly but quickly changed back to serious as his body crashed against my shield.

"The last person I ever want to lose is you. If you stay here then-"My shield broke down so I swapped it around with my hands, locking his sword in an impossible movement. As he stayed close to my beating heart I pressed my lips against his own.

This could have been my last kiss.

"Trust me not to die. It's because I love you is why I must stay." I hated what happened next. In the torment of his heart, his eyes passed down the salty liquid in anguish. There was something more than just this fight that made him beg for mercy so easily. What was he hiding from me? Gradually his iris once against switched from the beautiful brown into the sickly sapphire and his voice became demonic again.

"Yuck, how sappy! You fucking pansy Kurosaki, crying like a fag!" He broke his arms out of my grip, wrapping a hand into a fist and catching my bottom lip ruthlessly with abhorrence. His next punch swerved up, but again I ducked, using Tsubaki to try and break the bandages wrapped across his chest. If he lost enough blood, his motions would become incompetent, and then I could use my healing shield to keep him at bay from dying until Isshin was back with the cure. It was my only hope to get Ichigo back before anything irreversible happened. Tsubaki missed the cloth but seeped fastly through the skin under his armpit. Still I dived and attacked during his offensive actions in order to slice through the gauze.

Finally my actions worked. His dressing fell down, tattered from the constant attacks, onto the blood-stained carpet. He bent over and screamed out in pain, falling down to the floor after. But, under the quick screams was a replacement of an amusing smirk.

"Just kidding." He stepped back up in a high manor, showing the closed up wound slashed across his broad chest, "Did you really think I would be affected by my own poison?" He laughed manically and shunpo-ed before me as my guard was off, "How laughable." The frantic zanpactou reached through my body, slicing half of my organs and spraying my red liquid across the furniture.

"Orihime!" Ichigo screamed suddenly. I could hear his voice as my eyes begun fading slightly, "Don't die, Orihime!"

My eyes widened as quick flashbacks of Ichigo's fight against Grimmjow plagued my mind. It was ironic that the roles had changed around. I smiled and silently whispered, sending my masked fairy into the stomach of the despised woman in Ichigo's body. My resolve was quickly picked back up, throwing my healing shield over my own body in attempt to heal myself. Only once had I managed to but it had taken a lot of time to do so. As The Ichigo/Kurami hybrid sprawled to the floor and coughed out the metallic blood from the fresh wound, Lily and Amaya tried hard to quickly heal the vital points of my wounded body. I couldn't help but smirk at Ichigo's words. He looked up to me, still holding the wound, with his evil sapphire eyes. His blood soaked hand reached for the bandage still sprawled on the floor and fastly tying up the abbreviation. Our gazes challenged each other for seconds until; finally, we both broke out in a sprint towards each other. No matter if it was Ichigo or Kurami, this was my fight to survive.

His sword grazed against my forehead, letting blood soak through down my eye, keeping it closed completely. No matter how many times I tried to wipe the blood away, it would just bleed out again; so I just left it. With one eye closed, he saw through the weak spot and kept to that side where I could see his movements. But I still fought. He jumped above my head in attempt to strike down my down; I jumped and striked back, hitting the side of the blade and causing it to crack. His eyes widened at the fact it could break to my attack.

However, it was quickly removed as his changed position. I searched frantically for the possessed man, finding him below my feet. He grabbed my ankle and swung me into the ceiling, smashing my back to the plastered area and reopening my half-healed wound. I coughed blood for the first time as I fell to the ground, broken in pain. Another grasp slithered to my wrists, pinning me down as he sliced at my limbs lightning fast. I screamed out in pain and then for Tsubaki, only to find my pins in the hands of the person standing above me.

In one swift motion, they broke in his grip. My eyes widened as I was once again left powerless. In attempt to use physical attacks, I tried moving my limbs, but they had the nerves sliced through, making me paralysed.

"Well, I must say you put up a good fight for a bitch." He panted, "Maybe I'll let Ichigo do the honours." He laughed once more and grabbed my t-shirt, pulling me up as he stood above the floor. For the last time, the putrid sapphire eyes became the distinguished eyes of the one she truly loved. His eyes begun overflowing as he knew he was powerless to stop the next action he was forced to do.

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__(A/N: This gets a little confusing; _3rd person POV_ l**Ichigo's** **POV** lOrihime's POV)

_The moonlight shown down upon the carrot-top pair as he held her up by her top. She didn't resist as her limps were cut away from her heart's circuit. If he hadn't down this action, she would have bled to death since her vital organs had already been mercilessly shattered on one side. He really had done it. He really had done the one thing he thought he would have never been capable of. The hands he had used to caress her, to embrace her, to love her, was the hands he used to murder the woman of his dreams._

Tears. Tears of pain. Tears of anger. Tears of fear. They all flooded out of his eyes, just like the dream I once witnessed. He held his deathly sword a whisper away from my neck, begging his unwilling body to stop the madness. I stood against him in agony, feeling the oozing trickle of blood pour slowly down my aching limbs with one eye closed.

It was all coming true.

**Tears. Tears of pain. Tears of anger. Tears of fear. They all flooded out of my eyes as my zanpactou stood a whisper away from her. This was why I couldn't control my body. I promised that I wouldn't make this hallucination come true, yet, I failed again. My precious Hime. I stared into her open grey eye, still filled with light even though I was the one against her, her other closed tight as blood poured over her lid. Blood descended down her beautiful body everywhere... I really did this to her. Anguish, pain, agony, my heart was dying as I stared at her broken state. She stared into my eyes with love, and I tried to return, but only my pain was reflected. **

'_**Now...'**_** The dark voice breathed into my aching soul**_**, 'Slice her down, quick and easy, so you can watch her die, knowing that the man she loved had killed her heartlessly.'**_** My tears rolled down my dry ice cheeks, my hands moving on their own will as they finally took my woman's last hope of life.**

Anguish, pain, agony... only my body felt this as a physical torture, my heart feeling the same mentally as I stared wonderingly into his deep brown eyes. Those deep eyes that once looked at me with love only to blind me with his own pain. I knew it wasn't his fault, I knew he felt the same way as I did. Ice cold steel sliced through me, cutting away the last of my breath along with my last grip I had on my life. But even as I fell backwards, as if in slow motion, onto the blood stained carpet, all I could think about was what I had achieved for the while we had spent together, everything I had been through in my brief life.

"I'm sorry..." He whispered at my falling body, still trying to fight against whatever kept control of his anguished body. Still my eye stayed open, my hair passing gently over my dying face. A smile crept quietly onto my busted lips. _'No, thank you...'_

"**I'm sorry..." I whispered, the pain driving me insane as she fell, almost in slow motion towards the blood stained carpet. Too many heart filled memories passed my eyes to what we had achieved together, each of them placing me into more despair. I watched her hair dance in front of her busted face. My eyes turned black before she hit the floor, my body falling along with hers as I could feel my own limbs returning to my control. But I didn't want to live. I didn't want to live knowing I had killed the one woman I had ever loved.**

****(A/N: Back to normal ^_^)

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"MAMA!" The young child screamed as she fell to the ground, lifelessly, "DADDY!" She shouted as his body done the same. In her screams a bright white light passed over the tiny tot, covering her in a blinding shade as her body changed. Suddenly, her legs grew longer, as well as her hands, arms and body. She changed from the young girl over a four-year-old to the known fifteen-year-old she once was as a shinigami. Her light brown hair grew down her back as the light passed away.

"Wha... I'm... back to normal?" She checked over her hands to verify the fact before turning back to the other light shimmering by the bodies on the floor. It was completely midnight black, showing the much taller woman descend through it, also with long brown hair cruising down her back, but with glowing emerald eyes rather than sapphire ones.

"Huh, my body's back. That's good; at least I don't need this think prick as a vessel anymore." She kicked the unconscious chocolate eyed man across to the grey eyed goddess and turned to the other girl who passed their presence across her way.

"Mother? Father?" The smaller girl called. She swung her legs out of the cot and slid down to them. She was scared to touch them; she didn't want to believe this had happened.

"Huh? You have your body back too? Oh-fucking-joy." The teen sapphire-eyed girl pierced her gaze to the much taller thirty-year-old with despite. Her hands rolled up into fists as she stood her ground against her.

"How? How could you do this?" She whispered darkly.

"Do what?"

"THIS?" She shouted, pointing her hand towards the fallen bloody pair, "They took care of us and you KILL them?" Safaia's eyes grew teary yet stayed strong against the murderer.

"I didn't 'KILL' them, at least, not both of them. The brat's still alive... barely." She was surprised as the smaller blue-eyed version of herself shunpo-ed to her and tried to punch her, but still she was no match as her own, larger hand caught it. The emerald eyed woman smirked and threw her back.

"Well, as much as I'd like to play catch up with you, I have to take my leave. I have a little plan for soul society and must dash. See ya, loser!" She vanished quickly without a second to spare, leaving the younger girl to pick herself up and rush over to the fainted human teen, just in time to watch grandfather burst through the door.

**Well now, how was it today? I hope it wasn't too confusing, I'm not very good at fight scenes. Please review for me and if I'm lucky (and bothered to get off my lazy a$$) I'll write up by next week ^_^ Hope you enjoyed! And don't worry, I have a trick or two up my sleeve ;).**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	27. When you were beloved

**Alright, I'm sorry I haven't uploaded. For once, I wasn't lazy... I had no internet. To make up for it, this chapter should explain Safaia's past, and, it's over 5000 words so it's one of my long chapters for you :). I'm really thankful for my readers and reviewers, I could of never had reached it this far without you :D Please Enjoy!**

**She sat uncomfortably** with the green tea tightly in her grasp as the older man walked back into the small room, sitting next to her.

"How is he doing?" She asked gently, almost unable to use her vocal chords free willingly.

"He's in a state of shock and grief; I can't understand what he's saying."

"And... Orihime-Okasan?" She didn't receive an answer, nor need one. Her short nails begun digging into the porcelain cup with shaking shoulders in order to try and fight back the swelling water in her eyes.

"It's all my fault." She quivered, "I should have tried harder, I should have stopped her, I should have... I should never have brought them into this mess. It's all my fault."Her brick fringe darkened the shadow fallen over her eyes as her head lowered. When part of her bangs parted, the older Kurosaki noticed the streak of silent tears passing over her rosy cheek.

"Why don't you tell me what happened, Safaia? I need all the details if we're going to stop whoever had done this and bring Orihime-san back." Safaia turned her head up and looked at Isshin straight into the eyes, hoping that he could know everything just by looking into her sapphire orbs. This was only so she didn't have to return the memories she had buried deep into her heart, hoping for them to never be dug up again. She knew that her eyes wouldn't tell the story only her heart knew. She placed her head back down in submission and sighed, drying her fallen tears.

"Okay," She whispered, "I'll start from back in soul society..."

_**The murky stench**__ of a newly formed bloody road attacked the dirty citizens as they passed by drearily. In the shadows of the dusking sun a figure of utter darkness held a blood-stained katana, smirking at the latest kill to fill their lust. The poor souls beside the figure cowered as she turned towards them silently. How she loved that look of fear on their worthless face; it was sweet on her tongue. She begun lurking forward, satisfied for now, with her new bag of loose coins. Everywhere around her was brown and bloody, just the way she liked it. But to everyone else, all they saw was the bloodthirsty threat of emerald. Even with her long lion mane of hair and filthy brown trousers and t-shirt, her emerald eyes shone bright against it all. Everyone knew of this heartless girl, and those who challenged her were shown no mercy._

_As she strolled casually to the door of the run down house, she sheathed her sword and straightened her clothes, washing most of the blood off in a near-by puddle. With that done, she turned back to the dull brown door with its dusty windows and turned the handle, letting herself in._

"_I'm home!" She shouted through the dirty corridor, walking down to a small room with a little coffee table and a little girl._

"_Onee-chan!" The small sapphire eyed girl ran up to the older woman, hugging tightly to her legs._

"_Hey, loser, I got you something." She pulled out the bag that once held coins, tipping to content onto the splintered wooden table. Inside had a small piece of bread with a few carrots and beans. Rations, but the younger girl's eyes filled with delight as her tiny hands fell onto the bread._

"_Onee-chan... you got food? How?" She beamed, pulling at her older sister's hand down to her level._

"_I just pulled a few strings. We need to keep going now, don't we?" She smiled, kneeling down and patting the top of her little sister's head, "Come on, and eat up now." The sapphire eyed girl smiled and gave her sister the highly appreciated bread before, instead, picking up the dry beans, chomping them slowly down. The emerald eyed woman sat down next to the small girl, nipping at the bread with an emotionless expression._

"_Hey... Onee-chan?" _

"_Yeah?"_

"_What's that?" The young girl pointed to a large stain on the side of the woman's top innocently._

"_Oh... it's just a little blood. I had a small fall on my way home. It's okay now though." She dismissed it._

"_Oh, okay, Onee-chan! Onee-chan is very clumsy." She giggled with a gleam in her eyes. Still she wrapped her elfin arms around the waist of her sibling._

"_Whatever." She brushed the diminutive girl off of her and stood up stretching. Her hand passed through her slovenly kept mane before turning out of the room, "I'll be gone again tonight, you remember what to do if anyone comes in while I'm gone?" The toy child placed her finger to her chin in a thinking manor before beaming a smile._

"_Hide in the basement in the garden!" She blurted._

"_Yes, but before that?" The older woman quizzed. Suddenly the smaller girl rolled into a ball and placed her diminutive finger to her lips._

"_Stay as quiet as I can be so I'm not spotted by the badies." She whispered happily. The emerald eyed girl smirked and turned back towards the front door._

"_Good girl. I'll be back tomorrow, try and make the food last until, okay?" The younger girl waved happily to her big sister, grinning carelessly._

"_Yes!" The woman walked back to the door and closed it behind her, leaving the poor child alone with her hand out... crying quietly._

**"I guess it was roughly** that age I had realised that she wasn't exactly the beautiful kind-hearted sister I thought she was. I was such a fool to trust her. Years later the event that would change both of our lives occurred..."

"_**Onee-chan?" The slightly**__ older girl called out in the street, "Come on, Onee-chan, I'll be late to the academy so I'll leave without you if you want." She continued to shout out in hope for a reply. The sapphire eyed almost-teen passed her glance over to the forming crowd before her curiosity sparked. _

_The shouts and screams from the crowd echoed through her ear before a slightly uneasy feeling began to pit into her stomach. As she pushed through the numerous flea-ridden scums, her gaze ventured to the centre of the crowd, revealing her older sister standing tall against a cloth-covered man who sat down casually. Only two things could be seen through the murky cloth; strands of his long black hair and a long jagged zanpactou. The emerald woman had challenged the stranger to fight, but he didn't budge at her angered voice. She began to grow impatient._

"_Well? You fucking piece of shit, are you not fighting me because I'm a woman?" The sapphire girl's eyes widened; she had never heard her sister use language like that, or see her so angry yet blood-thirsty. Was this the same woman as her beloved sister?_

"_I couldn't care less if you're a woman, I don't fight weak opponents who beg for death." The mysterious man replied, "Now scram. Count yourself lucky that you're not fighting me." Her emerald eyes blazed in anger. Without another word she jumped forward to attack, wanting to taste the metallic liquid on her tongue; lusting for the smell to grace her nose, craving the sight to colour the dark dull streets._

_No one saw how fast the man had stood his ground and blocked the oncoming attack with his bare hand. The sheet that covered his bulky body fell slowly, showing a scarred man who stood over six feet tall, towering the young woman. His catch of her zanpactou caught her off guard, shocking her that someone could block her attack. But the shock didn't stay long. She broke off of him and placed her katana beside her lazily, smirking hungrily._

"_Well, this looks like it's gonna be fun." She stated happily. He didn't reply. Instead, he picked up his sword and turned away, still not bothering with the one he believed was too weak to be of any use._

"_Where do you think you're fucking going?" She shouted to him. Again, no reply. She grew impatient and, in a flash, she appeared before him once again, swinging her sword down the left side of his face._

_With a smirk, her face was sprayed with the fresh wounds blood. The taller man stepped back in shock, covering his freshly made wound across his left eye. After placing his hand back down and inspecting the blood that passed freely down his arm, he used his good eye to look at the woman before him. Suddenly, he began laughing, smiling intriguingly._

"_Now that's more like it! You actually cut me! You are the second person to ever be able to do such a thing, which means you really are an opponent I can have fun with." His smirk caused a lot of the crowd to back away, "I hope you're ready for this." He once again drew his sword, standing boldly against the strong woman. This time, she had no reply except for a satisfying smirk as she licked his blood off of her zanpactou._

_Both of the fighters sped forward, beginning the attack._

_As they fought their hearts out, the small sapphire watched with wide, confused eyes. This was really her Onee-chan? She had only said that she carried the sword for protection. Did she actually kill people for their food and money or was this a one-off? But... by the way she had carefully watched her opponent with blood-thirsty eyes, how knowledgeable she was when it came to fighting, and how she provoked her opponent like that made it seem like she had a lot of experience. However, when he managed to land attacks onto her hefty body, she didn't shrivel away in shock and pain, but endured and encouraged the blood to flow further._

_She laughed manically at first, but begun to die down when she realised that she couldn't land hits. Each time she missed she grew more worriful. Something wasn't right; she had never lost a fight before, she didn't even ever get scratched, so why was he able to hurt her so easily? Finally the blood lose began to catch up with her, making her loose balance and sight. Damn, there was no way she could lose to such a brute. With all her strength she tried to take him down with a final blow to the chest... but it didn't even pierce through his skin. His arm swept up across her body, making a huge gash up her body for a last blow before she fell, shocked that she actually lost._

"_Onee-chan!" The young girl shouted, pushing through the remainder of the crowd to tend to her. When she fell beside her sister, the crowd dispersed, not caring if the loser died there and then or not. The older man placed his sword to his side, tusking at the fallen opponent._

"_You tried to get yourself killed in a meaningless fight while you had someone to care for? What kinda bitch sister are you?" The woman turned her head to the man._

"_What the fucking hell do you think you're doing? Why didn't you finish me off?"_

"_Onee-san, how could you say that? You should be thankful you're still alive!" The younger girl shouted to her._

"_Oh, shut up for once will you?" She shouted back. The smaller girl was taken aback by her sister's actions; she had never raised her voice at her before. She stood up and faced the man who stood at almost twice her height. Her eyes never wavered at his brutal gaze, but her hands shook with fear. Suddenly, she bowed deeply._

"_Thank you, for not killing her, I don't know what she was thinking."_

"_Oi, what the hell do you think you're fucking doing-?"_

"_Don't give me that crap." The man boomed above both of their voices, "I don't give a damn about killing or not killing. It's not like I held back, but this kid sister of yours is right. Be thankful I didn't kill you. Why beg for death? If you like to fight so much then get stronger then kill the person who failed to kill you! When you're dead, admit defeat." He lectured. There was something about the man that the younger girl found admirable, but the older woman thought otherwise._

"_What the actual fucking hell? If you are defeated once then how can you face those who once feared you? Give me a fucking reason why they should still admire a fighter who was brought down!" She screamed at him, "Where will you get respect from those who no longer fear you?"_

"_Well then get their respect once again if it matters that much to you! Why should you care anyway about those who have no meaning in a life?" He stated back, turning around to begin walking away, "You shouldn't care about those who are weak; it's always been the survival of the fittest."_

"_Wait a minute!" The emerald eyed woman called for him, but still he walked until he was no longer seen. She growled and sat up slightly, cursing under her breath. Her younger sister stepped next to her and sat back down to her level, placing a supporting hand onto her upper back._

"_Get away from me! I don't need your fucking help!" The sapphire girl was taken aback, but just looked away with a slight frown. Both of the girls stood up, but the younger one begun walking the opposite direction to the man._

"_Where do you think you're going?" Her older half shouted to her._

"_The academy." Her sister answered emotionlessly, "I'm late."_

_The emerald eyed woman was taken aback by her tone; she never had an emotionless tone, there was always something._

**"In a few years I graduated,** became a shinigami and was placed as an unseated shinigami in the 1st squad. But, even though she also had spiritual pressure, she didn't use her love of fighting for the greater good, but for more street brawls and petty crimes. But, almost suddenly, it all changed one day..."

_**The young shinigami**__ sat peacefully in the training grounds, watching over some of the fellow soul reapers try and achieve their shikai. It was a lovely sunny morning with a wonderful summer breeze passing through her light brown locks, and a gorgeous flower scent that passed over along with the breeze, into the nostrils of said sapphire girl. She could only be happier if she knew what was wrong with her sister lately. Sure enough, after that incident with the mysterious man so many years ago, she changed into a selfish woman who goes out only to kill some poor soul with little money for her hunger for blood._

_She wanted to save her from that unsettlingly trait, but, it was under strict orders that no shinigami goes that far into a district without consult from the head captain. The sapphire-eyed girl had tried to convince her sister to move with her into Serieti, or to join the academy since, with her strength, she could easily pass. _

_So long ago, when the younger girl had first learnt about spiritual pressure through her sister's research, she had asked her beloved sister about it;_

"_Why didn't you join the shiwigami then onee-chan?" She had turned with the book close to her chest, her big bright sapphire eyes wide open to the taller teen woman. Her sister had turned back around to her, placed a protective hand onto her head and smiled sweetly._

"_There's something bad about onee-chan; she can't go to the academy because she would end up doing something very bad. If I do that, I may not be able to return home! We would separate and, there's no way I could ever let myself be separated from you." She picked up the tiny tot and hugged her tightly, furrowing her eyebrows as if she knew that something really was going to happen. She knew she would end up hurting her younger sister no matter what; and that was the last thing she wanted to do._

_But those days with her kind big sister were over. She was no longer that sweet woman she was inspired by; she was a devil in disguise, but she was still her sister. She was the woman who had raised her single-handedly in one of the worst places in the entire of soul society. Even with that blood thirsty nature, her cruel and cold nature, she still loved and cherished her. She was in her debt for the kindness she had received as a child. No matter what she was like now, there was nothing that could compare to the sort of amiable colleen she had been. In all her years, there was no one who came close to her kindness._

_**Later that evening**__, she was sleeping sweetly in her bed when a strong knock on the door had her awaken._

"_Come in." She called tiredly. A creak on the door let the stranger walk in quietly, as they made her way over to her bed, she could feel the presence of someone similar._

"_Onee-chan?" The older brown haired woman smiled and placed her younger sister's head back onto the pillow._

"_Sh, it's okay." She whispered, "I just wanted to say goodbye." The sapphire raised an eyebrow in confusion._

"_Goodbye?" She sat up again and her sister lowered herself onto the edge of the bed._

"_Yeah. I know I've become out of control lately, so I'm going to try and leave you out of it. Please, I'm going to try and control this urge in me to kill, then, I'll return for you and be your onee-chan once again. So until then-"The older girl done something she had never done in front of her sister before: cry. A few solitary tears passed down the cheeks of the emerald eyed girl's face, cutting her off from speaking any further. She leant forward and pecked the forehead of her sister, allowing herself to part from her and get up to go away for who knows how long. Before she could go, her sleeve was grabbed by the sitting girl, making her turn around rather than pull away._

"_You will always be my onee-chan." Her sapphire eyes shone brightly in the dark room, bringing back the love and affection she once had for her big sister, as well as the relief to know she was still inside the murderous body. Her grip loosened and broke away, letting her sister finally leave._

_With her sister gone, she once again cried like she had every time she watched her sister walk out the door; with the fear that she would never come back again._

"**I haven't** seen that side of her since. I still don't know how she managed to control herself like that for enough time to find me in Serieti and speak to me, before leaving once again. And what did she mean by it all. I really couldn't place it. Then, many more years later, I finally hear from her again, but, not in the way I wanted to..."

_**Everywhere in the**__ seventh squad sirens burst out, indicating that an intruder had broken into the experiment lab. She tried her hardest to steal the ingredients for this medication and there was no way she was going to be caught so easily. To her left, shinigami of all sort pursued her, so she turned right, only to find her trapped between them both. She eyed the wall in front of her and judged the distance up, before jumping high above the ground and over it. However, the sight on the other side was one she rather had kept away from. With her hands and pockets full of flasks and numerous items, she had landed straight in front of a pair of bright sapphire eyes. But, before either of them could say a word, she found herself forced back into the ground with the obnoxious voices of the shinigami as they handcuffed her and took away the stolen items._

"_Wait! You don't understand-"_

"_Silence!" One of them demanded, "You have committed the crimes of breaking of entry, trespassing, stealing, and murdering of two seated shinigami; you have no right to talk."_

"_Wait." Another shinigami had addressed the man on her sister's back, "Can you let me talk to her? I know her." The lad who held her hands ushered for her to be quick, but to stay there until someone from the police squad had taken her. The younger girl bent down to her level with strong eyes._

"_What were you thinking?" She questioned straight forwardly. The older woman sighed but equalled the resolve into her gaze._

"_I was trying to create a medication to take away the godforsaken demon that ruined our lives. I won't be able to maintain this stage of half way for long." She wasn't the kind sister that the sapphire girl knew, but she was not also the killing machine she despised so much. She was trying to keep control, but failing to do so; causing a strange diamond coloured glow in her eyes rather than her normal emerald ones. Sapphire didn't say a word. She simply stood back up and walked a few steps backwards, allowing the police squad to suddenly shunpo before her sister._

_**A few hours later, **__the older split woman had her trial, giving her one hundred years at level two in the underground prison. However, that night, the most horrifying scene was bestowed upon the poor guards on duty in that line of settlement._

"_Oh my god..." Were the only words that could escape their lips. Their eyes travelled over every wall, investigating the dripping red liquid as each body piled above each other, reaching almost sky high. The stench was disgusting to the unfamiliar shinigami; neither had ever witnessed such carnage. They wanted to free themselves from the sight, but were in too much trouble to just leave it without finding the culprit._

_Sometime later, a small creaking sound caught their attention to their left. With a silent un-sheathing of their zanpactou, they inaudibly crept over towards the dark figure in the shadows. The silent figure laughed at their bad attempt to catch her unawares; they were doomed as soon as they entered the room. How she loved their wavering faces, their fear, their blood. She wanted to taste it so badly. She needed a challenging fight. With the stones that layered the walls of the jail taking away the inmate's spiritual pressure, she was left with weaklings who would bow at her feet with a lift of her finger. She hated that they were so weak. Their steps crawled closer and closer to the awaiting predator, allowing her hunger make her mouth drool with anticipation. As soon as her prey was close, she finally pounced out of the shadows, taking her prey quickly, and unknowingly._

"**Because she had killed **all the inmates there, central 46 had no choice but to try an experimental punishment. It was the only chance of her being without an opportunity to kill, IF it went alright. However, it would also mean that someone would have to be her vessel in order for her to be contained. When I heard about it, I went straight to the central 46 and told them that I would do it. After all she was my sister..."

_**As an unseated shinigami**__, her line of duty wasn't a requirement that would get in the way of being a vessel. And, if anything was to go wrong, she would be killed immediately, also killing the criminal who was held inside. She had agreed with an unwavering heart, then sent to the seventh squad were the labs were kept._

_After the procedure, she was left confused and slightly delirious, but she still continued as normal. Until after a few months in. The small teenaged sapphire-eyed girl held her head tightly, trying all she could to remove the voice that echoed darkly in her mind to kill. It was driving her to insanity; but still she fought on. She used all her power to try and keep the fatalistic urge under control. All she ever heard was her big sister scream at her to kill, like a drug addict who hadn't had their fix, and trying to gain control of her movements._

_Gradually, the younger's will power weakened incredibly. Her deepest thoughts were iniquitous; her mouth tingled at the sight of a hollow's blood. She was losing the fight to keep her at bay, and there was nothing she could do about it. If she went to central 46 and told them what was happening, she would be killed. Why would she walk to a death sentence? No, it would have just been easier to give in to this lust for blood. The desire of cold steel to rip through a strong opponent. Yes... She ached for it so badly, she needed her fix of a fight before she sunk into a pit of despair and lost it all. It would have been just one lowly shinigami, who would miss them?_

_**She waltzed around**__ carefully during the gloomy night, hungry for the red liquid to grace her tongue. Her zanpactou rested cautiously on her hip; her hand twitching impatiently next to it. This is defiantly what she needed; the resistance was going to kill her if she didn't do anything about it. Suddenly, a tap on her shoulder brought her out of her thoughts._

"_Excuse me, miss, but you shouldn't be out this late, it's against regulations." He never did get another word out. His chest was sliced open fastly, not even allowing him to register what was happening. The younger sapphire eyed girl laughed manically, finally her wait was over. The shinigami blood poured out viciously, staining the zanpactou deeply through its deed. She raised it high and examined the bloody mess on the metal._

"_One isn't enough." She whispered darkly, licking some of the bloody mess off of her sword, "One just isn't enough."_

"**After that, I just lost it completely. **I begun murdering everyone I saw. My lust for blood was just too much to handle. If I was stronger, then maybe I could have stopped it from happening. She wanted to keep me out of it until she knew how to control that urge; now I understand why. Because Kurami had done a lot of research on the topic, she had managed to control her spiritual pressure in a way that let her learn kido that had never been used. She invented the _Misuto no maindo sōsa_ which ended up helping her, and me, to kill groups of thousands at most. This is how we became the mass murderers that our identities have been thrown around as today. Only, because I was just a vessel, my name wasn't blamed, but instead, Kurami's. I hated it. It was my fault. If I hadn't just given up I could of..." She broke down slightly, letting her tears flow into the stone cold tea still grasped in her hands. Isshin just sat there until she was ready to begin again.

After a few minutes, Safaia begun once again.

"Of course, Unohana-taicho was the one who stopped us. She took us back to the labs in hope to separate us, but instead, something went wrong. I don't know the details of the procedure, and I wasn't awake to see it either. For four hundred years after that, we had tests ran on us, we were confined in an isolated jail cell, but still her voice continued to haunt me. After the four hundred years, there was a single experiment that reacted with the one that had gone wrong, causing myself to become delirious. The whole point of the procedure was to separate us once again and become children in order to start our lives anew, but, because of the other experiment, it didn't happen. I don't remember how, but I was doused with an anaesthetic that caused me to black out, but when I woke up, I found myself in the world of the living..."

_**It was a dark night**__. Everywhere she looked was damp from the trickling of the relentless rain. She ran in a panic, wondering where she was, how she got there and where she was going to go. The voices in her head had stopped, but the images of her last attack were still fresh in her troubled mind. She jumped at the sound of thunder and rushed to under an old oak tree that stood loftily in the dim green abyss of the park she stood in. The images kept running around her head, making her eyes scream, wishing they could un-see it all. It was impossible. She cried deeply under the grim clouds and slithered down the tree, hugging her legs into the foetal position in hope to no longer be alone. It did little to help._

_Through her sniffs, she had begun feeling a strange sensation down her limbs. It started with just a pins-and-needles feeling, but then drastically changed into a pain in her heart. She groaned into the pain, clutching tightly to the cloth around her chest area before crying out through agony. She found a small cardboard box to the side of her, knowing that, if she was going to vomit, she'd do it in there. But the sickness subsided, and the pain stopped quickly. However, she was left with a strange glowing white light over her chalk skin._

"_What's happening...?" She questioned in hysterics. Her body grew hot before quite suddenly changing into a baby figure. Her clothes were too big, letting her fall into the box with no protection in the dark cold night. She cried because of the heat her body had produced, getting the attention of a young passing figure that was named Orihime Inoue._

"**Because of Orihime-Okasan**, I was taken in and that's when I met Ichigo-Otosan. They had loved and cared for me just as Onee-chan had when I was that young, I finally felt like I could be part of a family once again. However, I found out soon after that Onee-chan hadn't actually been separated from me. At least, not completely. Unohana-taicho may have stopped us, but it was a man known as Hacchi who had weakened us to the extent of being able to be caught. Hacchi's spiritual power was a very unique type, one I never thought I'd see again. It allowed me to gain some control back because Kurami was weakened by it. Her power doesn't work against that spiritual pressure, but it can infuse together with it in order for her to travel around. The only problem with doing that is that it takes so much of her own spiritual pressure to do so, she only had one real shot before she would need another vessel to get her body back to normal. Orihime-Okasan used her shield to try and heal me when Kurami was trying to escape my body, but it only helped her to do so. She kept her spiritual pressure in her pins, and some leaked out to around my own body. When Ichigo-Otosan held me to keep me warm, her spiritual pressure seeped into him. And, lastly, when Orihime-Okasan used her shield again to heal Ichigo-Otosan, the last of her resiteu was passed through, allowing her to take over Ichigo-Otosan's body. And now she's out there, making her way to soul society so she can have her revenge on central 46, the squads that experimented on us, and also, the man who had made her into what she is."

"The man who made her into what she is?"

"He lives in Serieti, but isn't a shinigami. From what I could tell from the stories her voice told me was that, when we were both young, he had convinced her to follow him, telling her that he could provide her food, water, and a place safe for us both. Instead, he gave her something he told her was an energy-conserving drink, that caused her murderous intentions to rise in her body. Everyone is capable of murder, but others listen more to their instincts about killing than others. Whatever he gave her caused her killing instincts to rise, so, when I had her placed in my body; the same thing had passed through me instead. Now that we have been separated again, her body contains the strong instinct. The only way she can be stopped now is to either find the antidote or to kill her." She paused to take it all in, sighing and wiping the dry substance that had drained from her eyes.

"And the only one who could stop her now," She continued, "Is Orihime-Okasan."


	28. Promises

**I must admit I'm quite early for this chapter :) I hope you enjoy (and understand) it because I'm tired and so some of it may seemed a little rushed and unclear. Thank you reviewers, readers, favourites etc. I really do love you. Please enjoy!**

**My hands rested** over my eyes, ready to remove any more of the sorrowful tears that escaped down my cheeks. How could I have killed her? Why didn't I try harder to fight back?

"Ichigo...-Otosan?" My door opened slightly, letting in the small teenager who once was the young tot Orihime and I had taken care of. I faced up to her for a brief second; it was the first time I had seen her in this form, but quickly faced away again as I just couldn't bare to look at her once again. She was the one who started this mess, but I couldn't bring myself to blame her. No, this was my entire fault. I failed to do the one thing I had promised; to protect Orihime. Protecting her also meant to protect her from myself. If only I had been stronger and stopped Kurami before she had the chance to enter my body.

Safaia crept silently across to the futon I laid motionlessly on, kneeling down when she was at the needed distance. Even when she tried to reach to comfort me, she stopped herself and took her hand back to her chest as if feeling her breaking heart.

"Otosan. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry! I should have told you when I had the chance. I should have..." She tried explaining her situation. With the sapphire eyed girl in her original body, the bond between us as father and daughter was almost completely vanquished, leaving us only as strangers once again.

"Orihime is gone. The only two women I had loved were both murdered. Both of their murders were my fault. The only reason I became a shinigami in the first place was to protect those around me, so why does everyone always slip through my fingers just when I feel I have a tight enough grip to keep them there?" My eyes were dry and my throat cracked under my voice. All I could feel was an empty hollow abyss inside... But I couldn't let it eat me into the darkness of sorrow.

"But that's why I need to bring her back."

"Huh?" The petite girl stared strangely with wavering eyes over my dour physiognomy. What did he mean? How would he be able to bring someone back from the dead? Was it possible?

"I'll find her; I'll bring her home again. Then, together, we'll defeat Kurami." I sat up from my suffocating prison and stood up tall. Moping around wouldn't get me anywhere; I need to do something.

"You're welcome to help me if you want, but, if you try to stop me, I'll treat you as an enemy." One too many times had my trust been betrayed when I teamed up with someone I didn't know well. Safaia may have once been a young tot that I had taken care of, and it pains me to be so cold and feel no connection to her, but she was no longer my concern. Orihime is who I needed to worry about first, and I wasn't waiting for anyone.

**She thought for** a few minutes as Ichigo got dressed, ready for his search around the deserted night city. Being back in his spirit body, he looked willing with an unwavering resolve. To someone who had never known him, they would think that there was no weakness over his physical and mental mind. But Safaia knew that he was worried for Orihime. His weakness was the unknowing. If he didn't know his friends were safe, he'll disguise it as 'I trust them to make it back', but still it would eat away at him until he knew for certain that they were safe. Orihime was a special exception. The exception being that if she was in trouble, he would do anything and everything to find her once again and make her okay. Of course, he knew she was strong, but he never wanted her to need to use her strength. Would he be alright if he found her in trouble? Or worse? He would need someone to help him pull through. Even though he has vowed to go with her to defeat Kurami, Ichigo would be at a high disadvantage with his powers, and Orihime with her kind heart may not be able to kill. No, they needed her there. Kurami needed her there.

"Okay, Ichigo-Otosan, I'll come." Ichigo turned around to her and smiled kindly, placing his hand out for her as a symbol of truce before they started their journey. Reluctantly, the teen grabbed his large palms, smiling back before they shunpo-ed into the night.

**Everything felt so strange. **I could barely feel the wind breeze through my hair, but I could slightly feel it cruise through my body. Smells didn't exist, but sounds were calm, yet heard from the life around me. Strange. It was obvious what had happened though. Without the small feel of touch placed against my palm as I leant on a nearby building, it was understanding that I really was dead. Although, I didn't feel saddened, but rather confused. I knew it wasn't Ichigo who had killed me, but what had happened to him? The thought of Ichigo with those sickly sapphire eyes made my chest shoot uncomfortably in pain, causing me to place my free hand onto where my heart would have been. However, my diminutive hand collided with a strange object secured to the centre of my chest. It was the base of a long chain. I had seen it many times before on souls that were not meant to die; ones that still had a wish they needed to complete before they could pass over to the other side. The only true difference was: there's were not broken. Even though there was a considerably large amount of the chain still attached to me, it had a break in it. The chances were that my other half was still attached to my real body.

I sighed and wondered through the dark moonlight. Up ahead was nothing but a deserted path with the flickering of overhead lampposts trying their hardest to keep things alight... but for whom? There was no reason to try so hard only to wear themselves out for no particular reason. It was sad... I was sad. For some reason, I couldn't find my own purpose. Having this chain meant there was something I had to do before I passed, but what was it? Surely I should know about my own purposes, but nothing I come to mind.

Still I wondered absentmindedly around town as I tried to find my own purpose, until I reached the park. This park had so many fond memories. I entered freely and begun to stride along the lapidary designed path, thinking about each of those memories, hoping something would unlock from them. Over by that swing set was where Sora used to take me. At that big oak tree is where I found Safaia that faithful rainy day. And, over there...

Sat a silent wooden bench, lonely. It was a familiar bench; I had two memories of it. One of which was when I was attacked by the Grande Menos and first met April-san... but the second was so much more exhilarating. It was also the bench I had my first kiss with my beloved Ichigo. The entire day had my thoughts brought into the light with a smile on my blushing face.

All my life I had just wanted someone to love and to be beside me. I had never told anyone about it, but under my zealousness, I was just always so lonely. But now, I had everything I ever wanted, but was evidently still incomplete. I didn't feel like I needed something else to do; I would happily die in peace knowing that Ichigo loved me, and was safe.

...Was Ichigo safe?

If it was Ichigo that had caused this to me in the first place, how do I know he is okay too? Was this what I was missing? Ichigo... Where are you? Are you safe?

I sat down on the bench with my hands placed through my lap. The first thing I needed to do was think things through from the beginning, then look for him; it would have been stupid to fly in blindly, I could have ended up missing him.

"Orihime-san?" A sudden voice sparked though the silent dark atmosphere. I turned to my left with wide eyes at the familiar female.

"April-san." She smiled down as she strolled beside me, towering over my slumped body with a grim expression over her flawless features.

"Hey, what happened? As soon as I had your name turn up onto my device, I searched everywhere for you. But, why was your name on the device?" The succulent woman dropped to a kneeling position in front of my legs, placing her delicate hands over my shaky knees. Under the luminous moon her golden hair glimmered with a silky glow, radiating not only the bangs that fell across her face, but also her magnificent hazel eyes. No matter the situation, it was clear she would do anything to try and relight everyone's life the best she could. Her touch was warm and caring, almost motherly as she waited for me to open up, but still I couldn't bring myself to answer her questions.

"Why are you here? I didn't think someone with such a high rank would be sent here for a normal soul clearing." I tried my best to distract her with another question to wriggle myself out of telling her about what happened to me and Ichigo, yet something gnawed away at my throat, screaming that it would be dangerous to keep it all a secret.

"With all the resent attacks I was sent out to try and maintain order as Soi Fon-taicho worked the case." The attacks. I was responsible for those. I should have visited Urahara when I first found out Safaia had spiritual pressure. Maybe I could have stopped this entire mess. Was that the reason for my chain?

"Orihime-san... who killed you?" April was compassionate about the situation, yet still she took her work seriously. I knew there was no way of getting out of it. I would need to tell the serene sheila about everything sooner or later; it would be better as the former.

"I...Maybe I should start with the attacks culprit before I tell you about my death." I reasoned. Never had I felt the need to become so serious for a friend, but I guess everything I knew was important information. So, I needed to begin and the beginning...

... And finish at the end. She sat before me with wide eyes, not believing anything of what I said. Her face became dark as her fringe sat over her eyes.

"So, what happened to Ichigo? He isn't dead, thankfully, but do you know anything?"

"No, nothing at all. I just hope he's taking care of Safaia." Suddenly, the older woman stood up with a gloomy gaze.

"Well, we better trust Ichigo to do that. This is important and so I'll need you to report it for me. I know I should be taking you to the soul society, but by doing so, you'll lose your memory." She began rubbing her temples in irritation as she tried to decide what to do, "We better go see the captain commander and then decide what's best for you."

"What's best for me?" I repeated, unclear.

"Well, Hime, you are technically dead; you should be living in the soul society, not the world of the living."

"But... But, April-san-" I placed my hands up and straightened my back in a plea.

"Orihime-san! What the hell is that doing on you?" She screamed suddenly, pointing shakily to my cursive chain wrapped across my delicate chest.

"I don't know what it is I'm missing. There's something I must do before I go to soul society, and I need to find out what."

"No, Orihime-san, this is why you must come with me! For goodness sake if I don't get that removed you'll become a hollow! Thankfully you have at least a few days worth of chain there but still, please, we need to talk to the captain commander now!" She grasped strongly onto my diminutive wrist, hauling me away from the timber isolated bench. I was forced for my legs to start running behind her.

"April-san, I must find Ichigo-kun and Safaia!"

"Orihime-san, please! I understand but the chances are that Ichigo is looking for you too; his spiritual pressure is too strong, it'll cause that chain of yours to break quicker, maybe even only give you a few more hours before you become a hollow. Please, just trust me!" She stared at me with her icy protective orbs before running again to a secluded area of the park. That look in her eyes just told me that it was really too serious to not listen to her. Even in the short time the golden gal had been my Sensei, I had learnt a lot from her, including listening to her when it was important. I nodded unintentionally and she let me go, letting me stand put as she turned to the west, drawing her zanpactou from her back. With a quick slash of her sword, she opened a gate of the Dangai.

"I hope this route is still used; without a Kōtotsu, it's a little dangerous. Stay behind me, Orihime-san." Swiftly but vigilantly she light touched her way through the deteriorating locality. I took one last glance across the midnight moonlight. This peaceful setting of my cherished life in Karakura could have been the last time I would see any of it and I wanted this consummate contentment to be what I remembered.

**The auburn princess **finally turned into the Dangai, giving her the chance to swoop in unexpectedly just before it closed behind the three girls. They had no clue of what was lurking behind their backs so subtle, so silent. It was hard to fight back the urge to kill them both straight away; even she knew better than to fight when her strength was still charging. To fight a captain, as well as the only girl with the powers that had an advantage against the mist was too stupid. No, she'd wait until they were in soul society. The redoubtable aroma of their bloody goodness tempted her to breaking point, but still she resisted infuriately. The emerald demon could taste the sweet metal on her feisty tongue; it made her hungry for another kill. Her hands twitched, her stomach growled, her eyes widened as the scent became more furious in her nostrils; could she really wait until getting into soul society before killing them both? For now, she lurked cautiously in the shadows, absorbing the spiritual pressure around her ticking body before she could speed in for a kill.

**The end draws near! I'd say there will be roughly 35 chapters at most and so please be ready for the end :) I really want to thank you all, especially those who have stuck with me for the past year and so and helped me all the way ^_^ you guys are the best! I do hope to reach 200 reviews for this story but we'll see how things go. Please R+R and I'll see you soon. **

**P.S I plan on finishing this story before the new year so hopefully I can write faster now that I know what I'm doing and how I'm ending.**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	29. Tragic minds and delusions

**Proceed with the beatings my fellow people, I have waited far too long to upload for my liking -_-lll. Jeez I'm sorry but I have had the best and worse month of my life, which is why I couldn't bring myself to write. I won't tell you the details but just trust me there has been a lot that has been going on in my life. Anyway, thank you to my reviewers, although there are not many since I have realised that my story has been going on for almost a year and a half now (I know right!) so I'm not surprised I've lost a lot. Please though, take time to read and review for me as I really do love the feedback. This chapter is a little longer than usual and I really hope you enjoy!**

**Nypsy; It's either your east coast American lingo or my southern English slang but either one, I'll try my best to keep it to the way you can understand. Anything you can't understand just mention and I'll try and stop using those sort of words :) Thanks for the reviews that you have given me throughout this story as well, I don't think I could have gotten so well without you!**

**himexichi; Hello! And thank you so much for that it really brightened my day to read that! ^_^ Sorry I couldn't upload so quickly though, you may hit me on the back of the head it you wish.**

**melnel; Thank you! And also, you have been reviewing me for such a long time and I'm really glad you've stuck with me even though I'm such a horrible uploader. Thank you so much.**

**Just so you know, this chapter is a third person view and there is NO ICHIGO OR ORIHIME ALL THROUGHOUT!**

**Ahh... Home.** The murky dilapidated building standing on its last two legs, at breaking point, done and dusted, was the home she had come to live in and love. She enjoyed the fact that it hadn't been touched in her four hundred years of incarceration... but was curious as to why. Too bad her curiosity wasn't a strong thing in her mind. No... What was strong was her wishful breaking of skin, tearing through until the streets were sprayed with blood; her desire to murder. She would give it everything to see a single soul want to challenge her, after all, she only looked like a poor, feeble woman. How wrong could the dueller be? She guessed that the lucky partner would have to wait anyway.

Her arctic hands reached to a destination of the door handle, turning it swiftly and pushing the hefty unadorned stilted sheet open. The chilling air pushed forward into the callous woman's face, bringing scents of rotted blood and unsettling dust particles up her nostrils. Ahh that smell brought her back... and brought her starvation for that blood. Carelessly entering the tainted domicile, she roamed about, searching and reminiscing of helpless kills she had made during her life well lived in such a home; A life she deemed as problem-free.

But something bugged her. Like a pit in her stomach that longed for something else through these memories, the gentle touch of a familiar presence that used to walk alongside her during this time. How terrible. The first time in four hundred years she had finally lost her horrifying coffin and she already was nostalgic for the tiny girl that she cared for. This wasn't the side of her blood thirsty soul; this was the older pure hearted sister still trying to fight for her freedom in her own body. The emerald eyed woman scowled; this aggravating side of her never had learned to quit, never fall and bow to the sweet taste of fresh blood. So bothersome. Swiftly, the pitiless female sliced down those insensible memories, destroying all attachments she had to her scrawny vessel. No longer could she get in the way.

There was a reason she returned to this place. Only here could she remember that faithful route from her infinitesimal ramshackle adobe to the elderly residence of that affable elderly chap... Wouldn't it be nice to pay him a visit once again, after all these years? She was sure he would be delighted. After all, he did remind her to stopover once in a while to help him stabilize her condition. How stupid she was to ever trust him. That time she had broken into soul society to grab all those heavy ingredients was only to help him worsen this tragic sense of slaughter.

He was the reason she was now a blood thirsty killer. And she wanted revenge for that. Did they actually believe she enjoyed being like this? A split personality; one side that fell to these ludicrous actions of slaughter whilst the other fought back. She wanted to end it all or die trying. She turned over towards the garden, the small place where the protective barrier of a basement laid waiting for the young girl if any danger had taken place. Luckily, no one was stupid enough to try and take on the dangerous woman, so her young sister had never learnt the secret of said place.

She jumped down into the basement, creeping her hands over the northern wall until she found the one, now rotting, piece of wood that had been loosened, revealing a small passageway; one that she would only be able to continue through on her hands and knees. So that's what she did. Getting on all fours she was slightly humiliated to have been forced down to this level, but determination set strongly against it and she pressed on. With each crawled step she became increasingly swarmed into darkness, so far that she could no longer see what was lurking before her. Her gem eyes sparkled with ice in the darkness, dilating to try and successfully contain any sort of light before her, but failing to do so. It gradually showed to be difficult to breath in such a confined area with no option to turn back as the walls scraped over her womanly figure. Every now and then a small splinter of wood would catch her, either ripping her clothes or stopping her until she released herself. How she hated it down there. Her hands started to sweat as it dug into the dirt below foot, mixing her dirtied tainted fingers with the moister and particles of the black crumbling grime; she knew that it would have been worth it in the end. It was just a case of enduring the restrained area for just a while longer. Kurami pushed on further and further, each step bringing her into just more darkness and restricted movement.

Silently, a new light shone down the corner of the cramped corridor. Only dim, yet still enough to hurt the bright green eyes of Kurami, slightly making her hiss and wince away until her orbs adjusted, constricting once again. At least she was finally there. Just a few steps further. Just... a few more. The towering woman reached out to a wooden platform, digging her soiled nails through so hard it began scratching through. Freedom. Both hands collided with the fresh dais, easing her through and finally stretching out into the vast region. It was a dim lighted room with high ceilings, so high that the insignificant luminosity source did not reach the top, but instead showed a dark midnight abyss. The walls were stained like a butchers' knife and the wood that the shady female now stood upon was just as crucified. She smirked that the lovely decor that roamed in this picture less room. All that had decorated this room was the blood all over, and a single door standing lonesome in front of her. This door had many memories trapped inside the sheila, and emotions she hadn't felt in many years. This was it. She slowly crept towards the rotting entrance, reaching out inaudibly until her grip was tight on the handle. Ultimately, she opened the gateway to her old life's demise.

**There was that **familiar stench of decomposing corpses, even though none had been undesirably stretched across the hefty area. All that the eye could gaze upon in this room was machines after machines, some that were common in the scientific life, others that had no meaning or understanding to the normal pass-bys. But it all meant something to Kurami. Bile was forced up the oesophagus of the putrid female as so many unwelcomed reminiscences plagued over her.

"_What is a young girl like yourself doing alone on the streets?" _

She slammed a hand across the wall, trying to keep herself from loosing balance. How pathetic could she be? There was no way she was weak, let alone faint over a few appalling memoirs!

"_Such a young child..."_

Damn it! Why did she have to recall that day, now of all times? Why? She swallowed down the bile and stood up tall; she needed to keep herself together, even in a weakened state.

"_What is a young girl like yourself doing alone on the streets?" The warm smiling man asked sweetly, keeping an arched back as he towered over the tiny girl carrying a baby. It was a cold winter afternoon and freezing snow was raining down on non-interested snobs of the 8__th__ district, but the little child and the younger child in her arms were protected by an elder holding a plain black umbrella over their heads._

"_Such a young child...Are you alone?" He questioned calmly. Her emerald eyes glittered with sparkles of water in the corners of her eyes as she nodded her head strongly._

"_Mummy and Daddy didn't want us." She admitted tearfully. He looked pitifully down on the children, noticing that the child had given up her coat, even on this snowing day, to her younger sibling to keep her warm. She shivered but still refused to take her coat back. She stared back up to the icy eyed man as he crouched down, pulling open his own jacket._

"_Are you hungry?" Inside his pocket was lined with small items of sweets and money, each of which the young girl widened her eyes at the sight, "Do you want some of this?" His friendly grin became a slightly miscevious smirk as the girl reluctantly nodded. He chuckled and took out a couple of the sweets, philanthropically them lightly into the youngster's hand. With a grateful glance up to the older, she opened it up and placed it onto her tongue._

"_I can give you somewhere to stay, out of this cold weather." The tiny Kurami gazed up to him with a questionable look._

"_Thank you for the food, but I shouldn't follow strangers." She regrettably stated. His features became glum at her assertion._

"_Well, my offer states. Please remember that the streets aren't a place for children. And also," His hand reached up and placed itself onto the forehead of the youngest. Instinctively, Kurami whipped her body away from the hand, protecting her sister. Still the man crouched beside her, "If that baby isn't kept warm, she will die." Finally he stood up, passing his umbrella to the brown haired girl._

"_I'll be back tomorrow, and the next day, and so on until you feel that I am no longer a stranger." He smiled down upon them and begun walking away, "I am merely a humble man looking out for you."_

**Kurami wanted that** memory to leave so badly. It was disgusting to think of how that man had tricked her so easily. With a sweet talk and a warm smile; it was his entire fault. Sure, he showed up the next day, and the day after, for another week he turned up with promises of protection, warmth, food and money, but how ironic that it all came with a price.

What was that price? Become an assassin. He trained her immensely every day after he had brought her home, telling her it was so she could protect her and her sister from the outside world. It was all lies. She was taught how to steal for food, how to take down her opponents with just a single strike to fatal points, and paid to do so soon after by the same man who said that he could protect them. The house that they had lived in was given to her in just a few months as an escape route if anything was to happen to him. He told Kurami to avenge his death if he was to ever be killed. What was the avenging price if she was the one to kill him?

_She stood silently on the roof top, gazing to her prey down below; a simple man with a top hat and a swallowtail jacket. A rich bastard as she had been told he was. He was the target all her training had been placed for. She had to do it; her guardian was being followed by this man, and he wanted to take him away from her. After everything that he had done for her, she couldn't let that happen. She swooped down, kunai in hand, and pressed deeply into the shadows of the midnight fury, just waiting for her moment. She scarcely breathed in fear that she would be heard, her movements were none until the right moment. There! With his back turned to her, she could easily jump in and cut across his neck, breaking off the spine from the brain. So she went forth. As she jumped fastly, her kunai had collided with the back of the neck of her victim, but unfortunately trapped between, keeping it secured in place. Her eyes widened as his screams echoed through the street, and his blood sprayed across the subtle childish face. This was her first time at this... she hated this. It was nothing like the straw dolls she had practiced on! The skin she ripped through was a delicate as silk, the blood that had landed unwontedly onto her tongue tasted of pure horrific metal and the screams rung drastically through her mind, scaring her undeveloped mental body for life. He dropped to his knees, taking the wedged kunai along with him as she stood there, shaking with fright. Nothing could describe the fear of that blood over her face, but only the light of a nearby house that flickered on reminded her that she needed to escape. A murder in this high of a district was not at all common, and would be investigated, meaning she should return back to her home in the lowest district._

_Her tiny legs raced back through to a forest, then over a lake and further on through streets of other districts, no longer paying attention to what or where she was heading to, until she finally had reached home. With one swift opening to the door, she ran through the corridor to the single bedroom where her sister laid peacefully. Just a tiny baby laying, sleeping, carelessly under the cloth with a faint smile on her lips._

_Kurami walked steadily to this gentle fawn until she was beside her, not removing her emerald gaze for one moment. A small hand stroked down her sleeping face, feeling just how soft this elusive skin she had pierced really was. Finally, realisation had kicked into her. She lowered her forehead onto the baby's and cried with nothing by muffled breaths. When her head was lifted, she noticed the small blood drips that had moved from her scanty face to her sibling's cheeks. She jumped back, staring into her blood soaked hands, quivering without a sound. She couldn't move, she couldn't scream. This red liquid deprived her from doing anything. She feared it so much it made her feel sick._

"_Just as I feared." A deep voice came from behind the frozen girl, "Hemophobia." The lofty man stepped out from the doorway and in front of the terrified child, wiping off some of the blood from her face._

"_This will not do."_

**To think, that blood** that she once had feared from with her life was the blood she had now learned to crave for and love. The only time she shook in the sight of blood now was because of anticipation. But that fear is why he had injected her with the poison that infected her today. He was trying to make her a merciless killing machine by removing that fear of blood... guess it worked. She stepped through the machines towards the single medical chair that distinctively made its presence in the centre of the room. This was where it all began, and this was where it was all going to end.

"You! What are you doing here?" A voice screamed out from behind her, "You have no right to being here!" He stepped out from the shade heading for the elevated silhouette with elongated tan locks. She curved roughly and faced the ashy haired form, her emerald frost eyes gleaming in the darkness, matching his own icy polar eyes. They widened in disbelief as recognition hit him.

"Kurami?" He stuttered, pulling back slightly as she reached for her zanpactou hilt.

"It's been a long time, old man. Still fucking up lives with experiments I see." She chuckled darkly, "How spiteful."

"What do you want, Kurami? I thought they rid of you centuries ago!" Her feet shifted slightly, and then skimmed over the floor in a shunpo as a sharp nail pressed against the unsuspecting man's throat.

"You thought fucking wrong then, didn't you? And what do I want? The thing you promised me for who knows how many years: A cure for this disease of mine." The male sweated as the nail of her sleek touch coiled a throbbing scratch across his elderly throat.

"I thought you enjoyed killing." The man wickedly spited.

"Oh, I do," She whispered darkly, "But it's become a burden, and little old me is getting tired of the constant thirst; I may as well be a vampire." Her finger made one last scratch across his neck, and then threw her other fingers around, digging the nails in a tight grip as she slammed his head on the wall behind.

"Now, have you got the cure of not, you old bastard?" Her growl seeped angrily through her teeth as he coughed and wheezed in hope to keep alive. His gaze travelled down to hers, then scowled as he kicked into her stomach. She didn't faze at the sudden contact, but just made her grip tighter, cutting off any further attacks he had hoped to try. The fear of his life was obvious.

"How could you do this to me? I created you! I saved you from that hostile place on the unforgiving streets and this is how you repay me?" Her eyes widened and she forced him further into the wall, creating a sudden crater through it.

"I repaid my debt too many years ago; you are in _**my**_ debt now." She forced a fist into his stomach, laughing as blood was sprayed from his mouth and over his chin.

"Must I remind you of how bloody impatient I am? Where is it?" She screamed. To her surprise, the man's grim face of fear had changed into a smirk of pure hatred. His chuckles begun timidly, then changed into a full on humorous cackle.

"Did you honestly believe that this murderous intention can be cured? It is human to kill to survive; I only made your instincts more barbaric! Nothing you can do can change that, nothing!" His laughter was cut short as the homicidal woman sliced through his body, releasing him maliciously to his death. So, nothing could be done, huh?

She turned over to the many chemicals that bubbled on the tables, some of which she recognised, others that were alien to her. In her life, she had researched so many different experiments that may have brought her back to normal, and never did she find the right cure. Why was she looking for a cure anyway? She loved killing so much, she was a demon, but she still could not find the happiness she once cared for. It was simple of why she wanted a cure – she had lost the will to live. Only a pure black abyss of instincts ran down her veins and mind. Was it also an instinct for a human to cling to what brought them pleasure? Although killing brought her pleasure, it couldn't atone for the one thing that had cling to her throughout her life; the one thing that had made her complete. She didn't want this life anymore, she wanted her old life back, where she, and her little sister could live in peace, together. All in all, the only thing that could bring her out of her misery was to make sure her sister was happy. She should have known how this would have all ended; it was a matter of fate now.

Her zanpactou was stained with the blood of another. Never had she learned the name of this zanpactou, for the simple reason is that it wasn't hers in the first place. It was handed to her by the man who's blood now blemished it. She didn't need it's name anyway; her techniques were all used in a form of kido and kendo, not powers of shikai and bankai. She stared into the reflection of her glowing eyes; never had she watched them fall into such emptiness. Suddenly, a movement caught her vacant eyes. The arm of the dead male swung around to Kurami's leg, catching it and piercing it was an unidentified object. She winced in pain as it jabbed her skin through her bloody trousers into her own blood stream.

"Have fun." The man cackled before Kurami dealt a final blow, cutting off his head. She knelt down to her ankle and removed the hem of the grimy leg, studying the single diminutive circular piercing that ran a small amount of blood from. In the hand of her prey laid the small structure of a metallic object; one that made the merciless woman cry out in fear. Pain reached agonisingly into her heart and lungs as breathing became a little relic from the past. Her hands edged gravely to her chest as a familiar feeling of thirst entered her throat.

"You- What did you do?" She screamed at the corpse. She coughed greatly as her killing instinct was overwhelmed unlike anything before. Her body reacted on its own, licking any trace of blood from her weapon in order to try and quench the thirst, yet nothing could change how overpowering that thirst had become.

"Ahh!" Her body ached to kill again, terribly ached for the warm metallic taste to drizzle down her gullet and bring her back to sanity. She could feel her eyes change from emerald to white as her sane side tried to withstand the power of her dehydration. Never had she fallen in so much need. Her cravings were winning, she needed to kill. She needed it!

Somewhere there were many people. Somewhere where she held grudges. Somewhere where they would have the equipment and latest technology to bring her back down to control. Somewhere she could infiltrate quickly and easily that would bring what she desired in a flash. And somewhere her need would be fulfilled.

She needed to reach the Soul Society. Only there was enough prey that could also give her the fights she truly desired. And only there would she once again find her sanity. So, that was her destination. She crashed out of the agonising building that had brought her so much pain and despair and begun sweeping the boarder towards her destination. There, will she once again bring the bloodshed she needed to survive.

**If it makes you feel better, I almost fainted during this chapter writing -_- I get light headed at the thought of cutting skin so it doesn't really help to write like this lol. Please review for me and I'll update asap!**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	30. Training with April Day 3

**Jeez chapter 30? Wow... I'm afraid I don't really like it, my brains on stand-by, but I couldn't leave it for much longer since it's been a long time, so please enjoy it if you can.**

"So, that is the final decision. You should be glad, Orihime-chan, it's an understatement to say that the captain commander's understanding is rare."

"Yes, I'm very grateful. Thank you, April-chan."

"You're welcome. But, just remember you're half of the deal before you wonder back to the world of the living, okay?" She grinned sweetly. The calm of her office seemed unnatural considering the situation that endangered us at the very moment in time. There was no clue as to where the murderer stood, nor when she was planning her attack, yet we sat in comfort on the settee of April's office without a thought of anxiety or fear. But, I could sense that the time of the attack was drawing nearer and nearer, and the chance of it being in a matter of days, perhaps even shorter, was increasing.

"I understand." I smiled across to the older woman, entirely appreciative for her wondrous words in my favour to the captain commander. The blonde captain had bewildered me as she instantly laid out my situation and giving the pros and cons of the decisions that could have been given, then finally convincing captain commander Yamamoto that allowing me to return to my human frame in the world of the living was the wisest choice. However, in allowing me to do this, I must aid the soul society in removing the threat as I was the only one available to both the information of her attacks, and also a counter attack. I was the only one who could fight against her with the benefit of a power that also worked as a weakness against her. After my mission was over, I will be granted special permission to re-enter my mortal body, even though my chain was broken.

"Although, April-chan, I have a small request."

"Oh? What is it?" She picked up her cup of milk tea and brought it firmly to her lips, relaxing into her seat as she listened to what I needed to ask. I thought before I spoke, convincing myself that what I was going to ask was the best idea in the current circumstances.

"Will you train me once again? If I am going against Kurami, I'll need to become stronger to ensure I have the strongest advantage available." The hazel eyed woman raised a neat eyebrow and placed her mug back down onto her lap.

"Train you again? If you want me to then I'll be glad to assist. Though, I don't know how much training we will be able to get through before Kurami shows."

"Then, perhaps we should begin right away?" Her face fell slightly for an unknown reason, but still she stood up, finishing her tea in one quick gulp, and aiding a hand to me in order for me to follow her example.

**My heart rate quickened **immensely, labouring my breathing into quick huffs that felt like pure clouds of an outstanding atmosphere. Still, the strength of my determination kept me from falling; my ambition stopping my head from spinning. How long had it been since our battle started? Three... maybe four hours ago? They never sojourned. Our lengthy locks lurched as our movements swayed under the overwrought sun, never giving in to the painful aches of our limbs.

Her cat blue eyes were much more abysmal than I had been used to; there was no holding back. However, her hazel orbs were observing, studying, with no waver in her attacks either. I tried everything to keep them both at bay, but I was fighting two resilient warriors who's power levels were much more than my own. I was surrounded. One stood before me, her katana clamped between both hands horizontally before her chest, the other behind me, her katana horizontally across her back. A tag team of these felines were extraordinarily and unnecessarily dangerous.

"Growl, Haineko!" Rangiku called. She crushed her blade fastly with her palm, resulting to the dancing ash cloud form around her body.

"Blaze, Hyakutaiyono fenikkusu." April whispered. Her zanpactou glistened into two terrifying flamed wings from her back, with her weapon changing drastically into a strange curved 'x'.

This wasn't training any more - This was a fight I needed to survive. Against Kurami, I had the advantage of her weakness, but between Rangiku and April, I had nothing but my adrenaline and natural power.

But I had to fight them. By using Rangiku's ash cloud, it trained me for Kurami's mist as they used partially the same principle. She was also a kido expert as well as her strength; each were vital to counter against and very common to Kurami's fighting style. April had the tactics and logic part of Kurami's mind, and the karate skills that could help if Kurami began to use her own, however she also had something that was notably and eerily similar to Kurami: Her painful desire to attack. She was baring her strikes to near-misses, but I didn't know exactly how long it would take before she would actually try to slice me with her flames. It wasn't the same April who just held an ordinary zanpactou; it was as if her shikai had sent her eyes into the same flaming passion that rested on her back.

Suddenly, Rangiku's hand pushed forward, emanating her residue towards my direction. I called for my shield, blocking as much as I could possibly, and then waited for a good opening. Nevertheless, my surveillance was cut short as the atrocious heat of the fire-handler intensified, indicating that she was running towards me. I had to think fast. Leaving my glowing shield behind, I jumped up and watched her strangely shaped zanpactou collide with the centre. I didn't let my spiritual pressure escape from the protective barrier, and to my pleasure, it remained intact, only leaving the slightest crack to the most pressured collision point. I took this to my advantage.

"Tsubaki!" I cried, keeping my resolve strong and sturdy as I sent him speeding down towards the blonde captain. His left wing carved into her right shoulder, but she didn't do as much as wince at the sudden pain through her skin. Instead, her own wing moved up, aiming instantly for both myself and Tsubaki. Thankfully, my shun-po training from before had come in handy, allowing me to escape from the flaming fury, and Tsubaki avoided, returning to my side before he was attacked for a second time.

My shun-po only brought me to a few feet from my side, and into Rangiku's range, permitting her to send over her ash quickly. My body was engulfed. Before I had the chance to try and flee, a blade was sent in, edging treacherously around my face and arms, daring me to try and move. I had to think fast; how would I be able to prevent myself from being attacked from all directions by someone I couldn't see? I thought hard, but not at all for long, then it occurred to me; Because of Safaia's cries, my body had reacted instantly when it became six o'clock, whether she was there or not. Sound was how I needed to train. If I could hear the attacks coming to me, the same way I used my sense of feel to know when April was coming, I could keep myself from dying in the mist by Kurami. So my eyes closed in concentration, my body relaxing, yet keeping a high guard as I listened to my surroundings. I could hear the ash flow in the wind, as well as the burning fire to my left. But the sound of the fire didn't get neither louder, or softer, but remained steady outside the mist. Could she not attack inside the cloud? A sudden rustle was caught to my upper right; so I moved down in hope to avoid an attack. There was no attack. Instead, the attack came from the lower right, catching my arm. I did everything I could to stop the agonising laceration from swaying my concentration and tried again. I heard the same rustle from the lower right, but it travelled over to the front of me. I stepped back just as the same cursive blade pierced through the ash before me, just missing where my stomach was. I continued using the source of the rustling to concentrate on avoiding, but I realised I still needed to escape for I could not keep this up forever. Rangiku kept up her side, attacking at the same pace like she wanted me to try and find a mean to escape her cloud. I couldn't predicted exactly where she would attack, but I could follow her direction of attacks, as well as the timing, meaning I could decide when would be the best moment to get away. How would I remove this ash though? If I just move, it would follow me. I needed to capture the source somehow, but that needed to be done without the mist around.

But everything fell silent. Rangiku wasn't moving at all, and the heat and sound of the flames died down to nothing. All I could feel was an uneasy flaring of both female's resiteu.

"Rangi-kun put away your shikai. Our training is finished." In seconds, I was back in the open, barely impaired. The sun's rays rained carefully on my body, trying to tend the few wounds I did have, but it never dulled the pain. Although Rangiku's zanpactou was safely sealed away, April's remained out, just less lit than the passionate flames that shone earlier; she seemed back into her usual personality without an intention to strike.

"What is it, April-chan? It really isn't like you to end a fight half way." Rangiku pondered, heading over to her. She didn't answer straight away, she only walked steadily over to me standing figure.

"April-chan?" I asked nervously. Finally, she stopped just in front of me. Weirdly, she twisted her 'x' carved weapon fastly in her hand until one end rested oddly on my chest. With a strange mixture of trust yet weariness, I found myself unable to move from her presence.

"This might hurt a lil'." With that tiny warning, her sword savagely sliced across my abdomen without hesitation. I bellowed in pain as blood released into the open.

"Why did you-"I was cut short as a strange blue field, much like my own orange one covered over my body. I had seen April use the blue light own her broken arm, the time I had caused said injury. I felt my cuts close leisurely, easing away all the tender soreness across my exhausted body, and returning fallen energy levels back to normal. Her healing abilities, however, were just that, perhaps using the same techniques as Unohana-taicho uses in the fourth squad. When everything was back into place the field disappeared, along with the taller blonde's shikai.

"Kurami is on her way." She seriously stated afterwards, "She was spotted in the 16th district where squad units were sent to attack." Suddenly, her eyes diverted to the ground with visible sorrow, "None of them could stop her, and none survived. She is a lot stronger than reports had told us."

Realisation was thrown at me like a tonne of bricks. It was time. It was time! But, I didn't feel fear, I felt nothing. This woman had destroyed so much that I knew, attacked so many I loved; I hated her but I couldn't feel any form of hatred in my body. There was only one thing that ran through my mind, and that was Safaia. Everything that I had happened, everything that was going to happen, was only for her. I was sure this was never because of her, but this was defiantly something I had to do in order to protect her, just like I had done for the concise two months I had her in my care. There was nothing that could have stopped me from doing so, not even Kurami. As I watched over to Rangiku, she held out her finger for a small black butterfly, letting it land delicately. Almost instantly after, her face scowled and her body tensed, making her look straight into my eyes.

"She's here."

**GUESS WHAT! It's the last chapter next XD! FINALLY I'M ALMOST FREE! Lol, I'm joking. I am extremely proud of this story as a whole and I'm glad that I've made it to the end. I hope you've all enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it, and I'll see you next time!**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	31. The Finale

**Unbelievable. I really can't believe it. This is the last chapter of Safaia Inoue, after almost two years. I don't know whether to be happy, sad, accomplished, relieved? At the moment I'm pretty emotionless. Well, I'll soon feel whatever I need to when it hits me that I won't be writing this story any more. Well, please read on and decide how you feel at the end...**

"_She's here."_

This was it. All the training I had forced myself through, all the painful memories of attacks and hurtful friendships torn from me; it was all finally going to end. After all I had been through, all that everyone had been through; it was finally time to close the book. I had never felt so ready and willing to fight before. I knew that I would be alone for this battle as I was the only one who could stop her. Ichigo wasn't around to save me this time, so I would be the one to save him instead. I would save everyone from the menacing woman no matter how long it took.

To my left, an explosion occurred. There were screams of fallen shinigami, shouts of those thrown into the brawl, and the cackling laughter of the insane intruder. Like thunder rising she brought peril into the lives of the unsuspecting citizens with full destruction of lightening. I had to stop her before she completely shattered the soul society. Fastly, I began sprinting in the direction of the detonation, April and Rangiku right behind me with just as much determination flowing in their veins as much as myself. There was nothing that could have stopped us from reaching our destination. Not a word was spoken, not a sound but the shrieks of defeated warriors in agony.

The eye had passed; we were finally in the storm.

As we swerved through the many alleys of Serieti, my mind only focused on my enemy. She was who caused everything, and she was who I was going to fight. Her strength is amazing, but I wasn't going to run. I had run for far too long, I had to be so powerless for such a long time with Ichigo as my leaning post. I cried as Ichigo fought Grimmjow, I cried after he fought Aizen, and I cried when he fought Ulquiorra. I was scared that something would happen to him, almost like I had no belief in his own strength. How foolish could I be? But Ichigo believed in my strength. He still believes that I'm strong enough to overcome any obstacle that stands in my way. So this time, I will stand on my own two feet, and I will prove to Ichigo that he is right. I admire him so much; he believes in his own strength in order to protect everyone, so I should take his example to heart and believe in my strength in order to protect what I hold dear to me. It was my time to shine through.

After a few minutes, we found ourselves turning on last turn before the battlefield was under our feet. _It was time._ I held my pins tightly in my right hand, but decided to place them in my pocket where they would be safe but still in reach. My unwavering orbs shot up to the taller woman, challenging her without a word. I could feel April and Rangiku jump back in order to leave room, but still be there to tend to any aid needed; this was my fight after all. The Yuuna Kisume's clothes were tattered and bloody, covering any sight of the faded dull brown that they were once coloured. Each part of her hems, both on the top and trousers, were ripped to pieces with hanging cloth that looked as if a lion had thrashed its jaws onto it and shook wildly around. Her posture was no longer there either. It was like she had gone completely insane. Kurami's eyes changed into my direction, seeing her newest challenger and stared.

But something had wavered me slightly. Not the fear of fighting her, or the memories I had because of her, only her eyes. She had her usual ghastly green orbs that pierced fearlessly into the souls of her pretenders... but she had emotion that did not fall under her usual fighting routines. There was something strange, out of the ordinary, which could scarcely be placed. It was almost as if her spirit was trying to stop the carnage, but her actions didn't listen. Was she scared? Or was she even the same person who had attacked us in front of Urahara's shop? It was incredibly outlandish.

"Inoue!" She screamed dramatically, "I am going to end this once and for all!" I didn't have time to register anything. She speeded in my direction, her zanpactou stretched out before her and aiming exactly into my heart. Quickly, my instincts and reactions tossed me away from the oncoming attack and into safety. Still she swerved around, chasing me; I was her prey. She guffawed but did not smile as she aimed again for me. This didn't feel like I was fighting the same woman; her body was no longer in control as she was at the brim of insanity. Her sword swung down at me, but I continued to dodge. Every treacherous attack missed narrowly but still she continued, no longer caring about dignity. I waited for an opening, I wasn't about to attack as aimlessly as she did.

With each attack that she missed her anger grew fierce. She screamed and swore, but still she could not clout. I steadied my breathing as best as I could, and kept my focus on my spiritual energy as I swiftly shunpo-ed out of her range, before gliding back into her range with a straight attack.

"Tsubaki."

The sweltering fairy veered rapidly but did no damage as she fastly blocked with her zanpactou. However, to my contentment, the blow was obvious as the chip in her sword was visualised. She scowled drastically, her eyes changing into a deadly diamond white as she hastily threw her arms forward. In an instant, her body was no longer visible, but darkened heavily by the dreaded mist that engulfed her. I knew that I couldn't attack her while she was in this state; Tsubaki went missing once before, and I was not going to let that happen again. I had to do something though. The mist travelled around wearily, uncovering her zanpactou as she went to attack. I stared at the one place that seemed as if it could be a disadvantage to her mist; the hilt of her zanpactou.

'_Anything that left the 30 centimetre around her skin would not be hidden; this usually led her zanpactou to visibility.' _This is what Ichigo had found out, '_Although the mist was almost like a cloak around her, another ability was that she could not be harmed underneath it; attacking the mist would of led to the destruction of the enemy's weapon.'_ If that part of her zanpactou was attacked, where she gripped it from the edge of the mist, would it make her let go of her weapon? If so, then she would be left with the only defence of her mist, but no form of offence. Unfortunately, it would take precision and only one shot to be able to hit, but Kurami did not show any sign of staying still. She would have to be pushed into a corner.

I jumped back over to where April and Rangiku stood ground, nodding silently at them both in order to signal their aid in the ferocious battle. Almost instantly, both fighters had worked their way around the darken cloud, doing all different kido attacks that may have had some sort of effect. Scrutinizing the fight, I just waited for that split second opening I needed to finally go in for the kill. There! Kurami dove in to attack the blonde beauty of a captain, leaving the side of her zanpactou defenceless; so I called for him.

"Tsubaki!"

His amazing speed glided strongly into the carnage, getting his target accurately into her right hand, cutting off three of her elongated fingers. Her scream pierced the ears of everyone around her with pure agony seeping through. The nameless zanpactou dropped onto the ground, taken away by Rangiku before Kurami had the slightest chance of reaching for it again.

Weapon less, the diamond/emerald eyes glared through the mist like a demon through the night, searching everywhere for a viable excuse of a weapon, only to find that the zanpactou of her enemies were the only things she could use. Blinded by insanity, the lioness pounced to her prey, intentionally locking onto the cat who dared take away her tool.

"Matsumoto-chan!"/"Rangi-kun!" We shouted at her, warning her of the on-coming assault. She couldn't block quick enough; she wasn't used to using two zanpactou and couldn't keep them far enough apart in order to not collide them while trying to defend. Kurami was far too close to use any kido, giving a skipped heart beat to the blue eyed dame. Thankfully, April had fastly jumped into action, blocking her in a diminutive enough time to allow her to shunpo away and removing the weapon quickly enough. But, unlike me, April didn't realise why she couldn't use her weapon against the mist.

In a flash, there was another explosion, causing the hazel eyed woman to fall back from the shock. It didn't take long before she re-composed herself, but her eyes widened in fear as she frantically searched for her sword.

"Where... What did you do to fenikkusu?" She screamed at the manically laughing ghost of a woman. Unfocused, dazed and unprepared, April was also left defenceless and left for the taking by the crazed feline. It didn't take mere seconds for her to be taken down; she had made such a crude mistake at captain level, one that she had even taught me when I had trained with her: Never take your eyes off your opponent. I watched in horror at the fallen mess of the captain.

"Sōten Kisshun!" I tried everything I could to heal her as I pried off the vicious monster. She stared at me through the disgusting black of the mist and charged for the orange shield, breaking it down with her foot before I could bring her to a healed level; thankfully, I managed to safely stabilise her state before Ayame and Shun'o returned.

"After everything I've done, I still can't do it!" She screeched. That was strange, what was she talking about suddenly?

"What can I do now? Nothing works!" Her rambling was shouted across the world, but no one seemed to understand her at all. Nothing works? Wasn't she trying to kill me because I was in the way of her plan? Her darkness filled shield broke away, revealing the full psychosis that ghastly provoked the sheila. Attacking without thought, I was left doing all I could to block and attack wherever was possible, but her openings were never easy to find. To my advantage, the small hits I did manage to fire in had a secure effect on her body, twiddling down her spiritual pressure tauntingly with each blow.

"Kichōna!"

Her opening was present.

"Shiten Kōshun!" My blade of shimmering orange pierced through her shoulder deeply as the shield protected me from her approaching assault, taking her by surprise for a brief second before blaring in agony.

"It hurts!" She bellowed, "It hurts..."

She did something that I had never thought I would witness such an insane, merciless woman do: fall to her knees with tears spilling uncontrollably from her icy eyes. She was at her breaking point.

"It hurts, Kichōna, my heart hurts." I knew something was off from the start, but why was she crying? Who was Kichōna? I was puzzled, but I didn't let it vacillate my focus, "Why can't you stop it hurting, Kichōna?"

"Who is Kichōna?" I questioned the fallen female. I wasn't about to attack as she was in this state; it would have been pride less. Suddenly, she changed once again, anger boiling through her as she growled immensely.

"You have no right to take her from me!" She cried, bringing out the stolen zanpactou from behind her hair and striking for my stomach. My eyes frantically switched to look for any opening I could use, letting me realise...

She was wide open.

"Tsubaki!" In an instant, the ferocious fairy glided swiftly into the chest of the opposing figure.

Her eyes widened at the sudden laceration. Her zanpactou missed, only succeeding in grazing my right side and standing motionless under my right arm. Kurami didn't move for a few seconds. Only after, she slumped forward, her head landing painfully onto my aching shoulder. This was it. I had given the final blow. This was it. It was over. Unknown to me, the enemy woman smiled.

"Inoue..." She breathed in agony. However, she didn't sound as pained as she did just a short while ago. Nothing told me to finish her off, but to instead place her gently down onto the ground.

"Inoue." She said louder. I turned to her, looking dead into her dying eyes with my guard still high.

"You've lost, Kurami. I won't let you hurt Ichigo-kun, Safaia, or anyone anymore." Her smile dropped slightly, but then readjusted again. Her fading eyes looked away to her right; a sign of remembrance.

"Safaia, huh? Sapphires... had been believed to be a talisman that would protect you against evil spirits. It is also said that a sapphire would will protect one from and cure one's mental disorders; an appropriate name for her. They are symbolised as truth, sincerity and to bring peace, joy and wisdom, just like she does." Her eyes turned back and locked into my own, "But the sapphire is second strongest behind the diamond." It occurred to me that Kurami's eyes had changed to the diamond white state a few times during our battle, but now are a stable emerald green.

I couldn't understand exactly what Kurami was talking about; only that she knew Safaia much better than I could have possibly. Perhaps I would uncover it all someday, but I needed to listen to her dying words first.

"Take care of my little Kichōna. She is all I have in this world."

"Onee-san!" "Orihime!" Two voices called out to our fallen states. I couldn't believe it. Ichigo was running towards me with a relieving grin attached to his beautiful features. But...who was that teenager beside him?

"Onee-san." She called again, this time with a lowered voice as she hovered above the laying dying woman.

"Are you Kichōna?" I asked the oddly familiar teen. She looked almost exactly like Kurami, with long lion mane hair and tender pale skin. She looked at me with saddened orbs.

"Safaia!" Her sapphire eyes were never to be mistaken. This was my little girl! She is a teenager? She even called Kurami as her sister... They were sisters?

"Kichōna, I'm sorry, I didn't find a cure in the end." The younger of the sisters grabbed her older's drooping hand, cupping it gently to her chest.

"Onee-san, don't leave me." She was on the verge of tears as she stared down into her sibling's loving, dying eyes. There were no words that passed between them, only gazes that told their story to one another.

"Orihime-Okasan, please save her!" She begged not looking once at me. I could barely see her face, but I could see the sparkling water that trickled soothingly down her moist features. I wanted to stop her from crying; it hurt me more than I realised. Was it mother's instinct to help their child? Fighting within me was two sides: If I healed her, there was a chance I couldn't stop her again if she went on another rampage, but if I didn't, Safaia would hate me. I couldn't have her hate me; she was still my child.

"No, Kichōna, only in my death will I be in peace again. Anyway, Inoue's power would do me more damage than heal." She removed her coarse hand kindly from her younger's. Without a sound, her arms placed behind her bloodied body, pushing herself excruciatingly up and using her frail arms to incline against her sister, hugging her amiably. Safaia's eye shot up as she grabbed Kurami's back strongly, crying into her neck.

"I love you, Kichōna." Her hands finally dropped into a merciless despair. Her tainted orbs had one colour change, one that only I had noticed, before wilting away as death collapsed onto her fearless soul.

She was a worthy opponent. I hated what she had done, and still did, but after the display before me of a sisterly love, I had come to realise that she did not do everything from will, but from love. I still didn't know what she meant; perhaps Ichigo or Safaia could explain it to me, but there was one thing that I did understand, and that was sibling affection. Safaia released the emerald eyed female so she was lying once again with her sapphire eyes focused straight onto her.

"I love you too, onee-san."

Ichigo made his way to my side, placing a loving hand over my shoulders. For a brief second I looked back to him, but turned back to the grieving teen. I couldn't feel the agonizing pain of my battle wounds anymore although I could feel a strain on my throbbing heart. I really was too kind sometimes. Watching her tearful gestures... it was hard to not understand her pain. Kurami was probably the only in her world, like Kurami said she was, which was just like myself and Sora. The pain of losing the one you looked up to, admired, loved, was a pain that no one should have to endure.

I stood back up, surprising Ichigo, and headed over to them.

"Safaia-chan." I soothed, lowering to her. She stared up to me with her enormous gorgeous gems, waiting for another sentence, but none came out. I couldn't comfort her with words, so I just held out my arms. The bloodshed over my body was one that wouldn't stop me from caring for my crying child. Her shaking legs allowed her to stand away from her sister and trudge over to me. After one more gaze into my grey orbs, she flung her body onto my own.

"Okasan." She tearfully whimpered, "Mama." Her body was a lot smaller than my own, at least a foot shorter and much younger looking. She was like a thirteen year old by face, but even younger by heart. Her arms gripped tightly to my shirt as her face buried into my breasts, leaving descending sniffle to leak through my top. However, I didn't care. She was my daughter. I stroked the top of her head caringly as she mumbled. After a few moments, Ichigo joined us, kissing the top of my head as his mighty arms wrapped themselves over us.

"Otosan."

We didn't move from this spot. As I stared into Ichigo's wonderful chocolate eyes, I could see the same fear that I held; this... would be the last time we would be together as a family. My talk with the captain commander meant that Safaia had to return to soul society if needed. Being that she was now capable to give statements as well as viable information regarding Kurami; it meant that she would be returned to soul society.

But we would no longer be allowed to see her.

"Good bye, Safaia-chan. We love you so much." I broke down inside as my soul collapsed. She knew what was going to happen too. She didn't reply, but she didn't need to. After being what felt like only seconds tightly holding onto each other, we were finally pulled away by April as Soi Fon took the teenager away.

Ichigo stepped to my side. The temperate sun begun to hide behind the cursive clouds as we watched with heavy hearts our daughter being taken. She only looked back once, but the thankfully smile plastered on her furrowed face was one that would stay fondly in my memories forever. My tears spilled unintentionally, but no true cries escaped in sound; I couldn't show myself breaking down before my girl, or my love. I felt his hefty hand run ghostly down my shivering arm before attaching itself caressingly entwined into my lengthy fingers. My head lowered onto his broad shoulder as she exited our sight.

Forever.

**... I've decided that I'm sad. I was once very optimistic about writing this but I lost it after the numerous writers blocks, becoming annoyed with myself for not writing for fun, but as if it was a chore. So I've decided; I'm going to go away for a while and write other stories, ones that I will complete before uploading, that way there is no pressure and I can have fun again.**

**I hope you have enjoyed Safaia Inoue. There will not be a sequel, but I have an epilogue uploaded at the same time as this chapter at least (not long at all). So... review please? Maybe one day, if I'm feeling more lively, I'll redo this chapter, but I'm not too sure right now.**

**This is goodbye until next time my wonderful readers. I hope you had fun x**

**-xlilslayerx-**


	32. Epilogue

_Epilogue_

It was a dark midnight walkway, blessed upon with the shattering despair of the sky as its welcoming tears splattered on the sleeping world. She walked down the murky path with snuffle in her eyes, this time, not for her giving up on her Kurosaki-kun, but because it was this rainy night, exactly one year ago she had found the pride and joy of her life; The young brown haired orphan who had brought her and her love together, the one who had made her stronger.

She missed her terribly.

A strong gust of wind blew her elongated auburn locks into her shivering face as a crash of thunder hurt her ears painfully. She knew that if she stood in the rain for much longer, she'd probably end up ill again, but she really couldn't care much at this moment in time. Her memory of when Ichigo had nursed her for the first time made her smile. How he had acted so zealous and out of character was amusing but so lovely. He always kept her in check now. Their one year anniversary was coming up in just a little over two weeks, which was more than Orihime could have ever hoped for, but she really did wish that they had their daughter still; it was never the same without her.

She cuddled her arms in a bad attempt to make herself warmer and stood under the old oak tree, thinking. Why couldn't she just see her again? Ichigo had told her everything that had happened after she 'died', and there was no viable reason she could think of as to why they couldn't even visit the young child they had cared for so lovingly. Wasn't there anything she could say to convince them otherwise?

Suddenly, an imaginary sound had grazed her ears over the loud booms of thunder. Was that... the sound of a baby's cry?

"No," Orihime sighed, "I'm imagining things again." She wiped some of the pitiful rain drops and grieving tears from her face. Again, the same curious sound passed over her hurting ears.

"Waah!" It screamed. She couldn't help but look hopefully around the tree, eager, wanting, but burst out crying as the fanatical sight before her appeared.

Not an empty space where the young girl once lied, but a young brown haired baby girl, crying in a cardboard box. She was less than a year old, but still she held the same wondrous face Orihime had been inconsolable for since she had lost her all those moths ago. Her big eyes opened, showing a strange pair of sapphire eyes with an emerald tint. Orihime picked her out of the broken cardboard caringly with even more falling drops down her frozen cheeks and looked with fuzzy eyes at the small note above her belly;

Safaia-Kurami Inoue

-Please take care of her-


End file.
